A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 




[Xettrdei)i Fret 



Maria Carolina Charlotte, 

Wife of Ferdinando IV., Queen of the Two Sicilies. 

From the painting by Mme. Vigee Le Brttn at Versailles. 



A SISTER OF 
MARIE ANTOINETTE 

THE LIFE-STORY OF MARIA 
CAROLINA, QUEEN OF NAPLES 

By 

Mrs. Bearne 

Author of "Heroines of French Society," "A Leader 
of Society at Napoleon's Court," &c., &c. 



WITH THIRTY-TWO ILLUSTRATIONS 



NEW YORK 

E. P. DUTTON AND COMPANY 

31 WEST TWENTY-THIRD STREET 
1907 






"f% 



{All rights reserved.) 



PREFACE 



ALTHOUGH the tragic history of the life and 
death of Marie Antoinette, Archduchess of 
Austria and Queen of France, is so familiar to the 
most casual of readers, many people appear to 
know nothing whatever about any of her sisters, 
of whom seven grew up into girlhood and woman- 
hood and several survived her. 

Most of these daughters of the Empress-Queen 
Maria Theresia were pretty and attractive, some 
were highly gifted and beautiful, but with one 
exception they were all overshadowed by a fatality 
which doomed them either to an early death, a 
disappointed life, or else to sorrows, dangers, and 
calamities which, as well as the grandeur of their 
birth, separated them from ordinary women. 

That fortunate exception was not Maria Carolina, 
whose brilliant and eventful career is the subject 
of this book — the sister who, nearest in age and 
rank to Marie Antoinette, resembled her in beauty 
but far surpassed her in talent ; while the magnifi- 
cent prosperity of the earlier part of her life and 
the perils and misfortunes which clouded her later 



vi A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

years were only exceeded by the still more lofty 
position and more terrible fate of the favourite 
sister whom she strained all her energy to save, 
and whose murder changed and embittered the rest 
of her days. 

In writing this life of a woman once so widely 
celebrated, so flattered and worshipped by many, 
so cruelly slandered by others, I do not pretend 
by research or discovery to throw any fresh light 
upon what is already known and recorded concern- 
ing her by students and historians. But it appears 
to me that amongst general readers of the 
present day, at any rate in England, very little is 
known about this once famous Queen. Many have 
no idea who she was at all ; others confuse her in 
a hazy manner with the upstart interloper who 
usurped her throne, to whom no woman could be 
more different in every respect. Even the name of 
Caroline did not in fact belong to the sister of 
Buonaparte and wife of Murat, whose baptismal 
name was Annunziata, and who, besides her utter 
want of dignity, refinement and good-breeding, was 
really guilty of the immoralities unjustly attributed 
to the Queen she had supplanted. 

If I had attempted to write a biography claiming 
to refute the accusations brought against this Queen 
by those who from political reasons were her 
bitterest enemies, an entirely different sort of 
work would have been necessary. It would have 
required not only careful comparison of the various 
writers upon the subject, but the examination of 
numbers of documents in Vienna and elsewhere, 
with accurate references to and descriptions of 



PREFACE vii 

them, besides explanations and information as to 
the character, motives, and credibility of their 
authors. 

All this is to be found in the deeply interesting 
and instructive works of the compatriot of the 
Queen, Freiherr von Helfert, from whose important 
details and circumstantial accounts I have drawn 
a great part of the information contained in this 
book, and by which he proves not only the 
improbability but the impossibility of many of the 
charges brought against Maria Carolina. 

In reading Mr. Jeaffreson's " Queen of Naples and 
Lord Nelson " I have also benefited by the valuable 
information derived by the author from his study 
of the Morrison MSS., corroborating so exactly 
all that is said by Freiherr von Helfert. Besides 
these two authors I have consulted the works of 
General Colletta, MM. Bonnefonds, de Trognon, 
de Serieys, Swinburne, Miss Cornelia Knight, and 
other writers. For the part of the book relating to 
the early life of Maria Carolina and of her parents 
at the court of Vienna I am chiefly indebted to 
the Comte de Villermont, M. de Berman, von Vehse, 
and above all to the splendid and voluminous works 
of Alfred, Ritter von Arneth, upon the reign of the 
Empress-Queen, Maria Theresia. 

I have to thank Mr. A. M. Broadley for the 
letters of Ferdinando and Maria Carolina, King and 
Queen of Naples (pp. 83, 201, 313, 406, 407), for the 
most interesting picture of the whole of the Austrian 
court on the occasion of the reception of Ferdinando 
and Maria Carolina at Vienna, and for the photo- 
graphs of the portraits of the King and Queen of 



viii A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

Naples and Lord Nelson, the originals of which 
portraits are in the possession of Mr. Hardy 
Manfield, by whose kind permission I make use 
of them. 

From the above mentioned materials I have 
written a life of Maria Carolina, Archduchess of 
Austria and Queen of Naples, which I hope may 
interest those who are not acquainted with the 
fuller histories of her life and that of her still more 
illustrious mother given by the distinguished German 
authors I have quoted. 

In the opening chapters I have described the 
court of her parents, the Emperor and Empress, 
the home life and surroundings of the imperial 
family at Vienna, and the scenes and habits which 
were so vividly impressed upon the Archduchess 
during her childhood and early youth, helped 
to form her character, and always retained the 
strongest influence over her during the vicissitudes 
of her brilliant, stormy career. 

Of the revolutionary war and important political 
events in the Two Sicilies it was of course impossible 
in a book of this kind to give anything but a 
sketch, the personal history and adventures of the 
Queen of Naples being the subject which con- 
cerned me, and which I have tried to place before 
my readers. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

Preface ........ v 



PART I 
MARIA THERESIA AND HER CHILDREN 



CHAPTER I 

The Archduchess Maria Theresia — Francois de Lorraine — The 
court of Carl VI. — The French Ambassador — Death of 
Carl VI. — The war — Flight of Maria Theresia — Rising 
of Hungary — The monarchy saved — Coronation of the 
Emperor — The imperial family — An adventure in a 
vineyard . . . . . .3 



CHAPTER II 

The court of Maria Theresia — Kaunitz — The imperial children 
— Christine and Carl — The Archduchess Marianne — Love- 
affair of the Archduchess Christine and Albrecht of Saxe- 
Teschen — Their marriage — The Archduchess Elisabeth — 
An unwilling Abbess — The Archduke Joseph — Character 
of the Empress — Her despotic rule — The amusements of 
the Emperor — His love-affairs and liaisons . . • 14 



A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 



CHAPTER III 

PAGE 

The Empress and her children — Betrothal of the Archduchess 
Johanna to the King of Naples — Joseph, Carl, and Leopold 
— Death of Carl — Isabella of Parma — Strange romance of 
her history — Her marriage with the Crown Prince — Her 
friendship with Christine — Gloomy presentiments — Death 
of Johanna — " It is the summons " — Death of Isabella — 
Unhappy second marriage of the Crown Prince — Marriage 
of the Archduke Leopold — Death of the Emperor . . 27 



CHAPTER IV 

Grief of the Empress — She resumes the government — The 
Archduchess Josepha — Marriage of the Archduchess 
Christine — Her favourite daughter — The small-pox again 
— Death of the Empress Joseph — Recovery of the 
Empress-mother — Splendid preparations for the wedding 
of Josepha — In the Capucine church — A terrible calamity 
— Death of Josepha — Recovery of Elisabeth — The pre- 
sentiment fulfilled . . . . . .40 



PART II 

MARIA CAROLINA 

CHAPTER V 



Carolina and Antoinette — " You are fifteen years old " — Mother 
and daughter — Carolina or Amalie ? — The choice of the 
King of Naples — Unwillingness of Carolina — The Empress 
insists — Amalie and the Duke of Parma — The Countess 
von Lerchenfeld — " Love your husband " . . '53 



CONTENTS xi 



CHAPTER VI 

PAGE 

Marriage of Carolina to the King of Naples — Her journey — 
The Grand-duke of Tuscany — Arrival at Naples — Un- 
happiness of Carolina — Letters of Leopold to his mother 
— Of Carolina to her governess — Becomes reconciled to 
her lot — Her influence over the King — " My wife knows 
everything" — Fete at Naples — Visit of the Emperor 
Joseph — The King of Naples and the Duke of Parma . 66 



CHAPTER Vn 

Popularity of the Queen — Tanucci — The dictation of Spain — 
Correspondence with the Empress — Birth of an heir — The 
Queen enters the Council — The lazzaroni — Amusements 
of the King — His love-affairs — Ambition of the Queen — 
Her life at Naples — Caserta — The King and the peasant 
woman — The court of Naples^A court intrigue — The 
Marchesa di San Marco — The Abbe Galiani — Second- 
sight — Guarini — Birth of Prince Francesco — Death of 
the Prince Royal . . . . . .83 



CHAPTER Vni 

The Queen's Government — Acton — Death of the Empress 
Maria Theresia — Scandalous reports — Jealousy of the 
King — Violent scene — Reconciliation — Visit of the Arch- 
duchess Christine — Scenes in an earthquake — On board 
the fleet — Death of the King of Spain — Of two children of 
the Queen — The eve of the French Revolution — Mme. 
Le Erun — Journey to Vienna — Death of the Emperor 
Joseph — Marriages of two daughters of the Queen — 
Coronation of the Emperor Leopold — Stay in Austria — 
Rome — Marie Antoinette — Varennes — Escape of the 
Comte and Comtesse de Provence — The Archduchess 
Christine ....... 100 



A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 



CHAPTER IX 

PAGE 

Return to Naples — Leopold and Maria Carolina — State of 
Tuscany — Of Naples — The Queen's society — Awakening 
— Change of policy — The secret police — Warlike pre- 
parations — The French Ambassadors at Naples and 
Venice — Mme. Le Brun — Slanders against the Queen — 
San Gennaro — Lady Hamilton .... 138 



CHAPTER X 

Early career of Emma Hart — Arrives at Naples — Her life there 
— Marries Sir William Hamilton — Prosperous and splen- 
did career of the Queen — The turn of the tide — Death of 
the Emperor Leopold and of the King of Sweden — Danger 
to Naples — Disputes with France — The French Am- 
bassador — Evil news from Paris — On the brink of war — 
A patched-up peace — The Ambassador of the Republic — 
Threatened bombardment of Naples — Life at Naples — 
News of the murder of Louis XVL — Outrageous conduct 
of the French Ambassador — His reception at a fete at 
court — He is recalled — Attempt to save the Queen and 
Madame Elisabeth . . . . . .152 



CHAPTER XI 

The Queen's popularity declines — Her proceedings give 
offence — The Neapolitans — Faults and virtues of Maria 
Carolina — Violence and calumnies of her enemies . 172 



CHAPTER XII 

Return of the French fleet — Treachery of La Touche and 
Mackau — The Jacobin supper — Conspiracies — Disguised 
as porters — The secret police — A secret treaty — Capture of 
Toulon — Alliance with England — Nelson — Splendid re- 
ception at Naples — The Queen and Captain Nelson — 



CONTENTS xiii 

PAGE 

Departure of the Agamemnon — The Queen and her 
daughters — The Princess AmeHe — The murder of Marie 
Antoinette — The Office for the Dead — The Marchesa 
Solari — Vows of vengeance ..... 184 



CHAPTER XIII 

Dark days — Gallant efforts of the Queen — Society at Naples — 
"Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow w^e die" — Earth- 
quake and fearful eruption — Trial of the conspirators — 
Execution of the leaders — Attacks on the Queen — Friend- 
ship with Lady Hamilton ..... 205 



CHAPTER XIV 

Another conspiracy — Terrible tragedies — State of society in 
Naples — Prince Caramanico — Attempts to obtain the 
release of Louis XVII. and Madame Royale — Death of 
Louis XVII. — Distress of the Queen — The King pays 
homage to Louis XVIII.— Hunting at Carditello— The 
fish-market — Shrove Tuesday at San Carlo . . 220 



CHAPTER XV 

The Queen's justice — An Ambassador of the Republic — 
Marriage of the Duke of Calabria — A patched-up peace — 
The battle of the Nile— The English fleet at Naples- 
Declaration of war — Exciting times— Ferdinand© enters 
Rome — Disasters and defeats — Approach of the enemy — 
Horrors and dangers — Preparations for flight . . 235 



CHAPTER XVI 

Alarming state of things — Escape of the royal family — Terrible 
storm — Death of Prince Carlo Alberto — Arrival at Palermo 
— Adventures of Lady Knight and her daughter — Perils 
and hardships — Palermo — Lovely scenery — Loyal Sicily 
— Death of the Archduchess Christine — The Parthenopeian 
Republic — Departure of Caracciolo — The King's warning . 253 



xiv A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

CHAPTER XVII 

PAGE 

Preparations for the reconquest of Naples — Ruffo — Calabria — A 
fearful war — State of Sicily — Travellers in the olden times 
— The brigands of Sicily — An escort .... 267 



CHAPTER XVIII 

The King's country house — End of the Parthenopeian Republic 
— Recovery of Naples — The treaty annulled — Attitude of 
the Queen — The King returns to Naples — Miss Knight and 
Lady Hamilton — Capture of the Genereux . . . 286 



CHAPTER XIX 

Triumphant return of the King — Honours to the Hamiltons — 
Pardons obtained by the Queen — Her generosity and 
charities — Depression of the Queen — Sir William Hamilton 
recalled — Scene with the King — Visits Naples — Leaves 
Palermo with Nelson— Perilous voyage to Livorno — The 
battle of Marengo — Dangerous journey to Vienna — 
Anxiety of the King ...... 308 



CHAPTER XX 

Arrival at Vienna — Departure of Lord Nelson and the 
Hamiltons — The two surviving daughters of Maria 
Theresia — The imperial family circle — Life at Vienna and 
Schonbrann — The Prime Minister Thugut — The war — 
Flight of the Grand-duke and Grand-duchess of Tuscany 
— Treaty of Luneville — Naples threatened — Paul, Emperor 
of Russia — Naples saved by the Queen — A dramatic 
concert — The Archduke Anton and Princess Amelie — The 
Spanish proposals — Terror of Amelie — The Prince of the 
Asturias chooses Antoinette — A melancholy parting . 323 



CHAPTER XXI 

Return to Naples — Death of Clementine, Princess Royal- 
Renewal of influence with the King— Death of the Grand- 



CONTENTS XV 

PAGE 

duchess of Tuscany — More conspiracies — Two Spanish 
marriages — Isabel, Princess Royal — Threatened dangers 
— Nelson — The ninety dogs of the King — Unhappy fate 
of Antoinette, Princess of the Asturias — The King of 
Spain and the violinist — The Queen of Naples and her 
daughter-in-law — A dangerous breakfast — Lady Hamilton 
— Her extravagance and greed for money — Infatuation of 
Lord Nelson ....... 334 



CHAPTER XXII 

Threatened dangers — The court of Naples — A fearful earth 
quake — Le Roi s'amuse — The allied fleet — Surrender of 
Mack — Trafalgar — Departure of the French Ambassador — 
Austerlitz — Alarm and perplexity at Naples — Flight of 
Ferdinando — The Queen and royal family prepare to 
escape — Farewell to Naples — A perilous voyage — Arrival 
at Palermo ....... 362 



CHAPTER XXIII 

At Palermo again — Discomforts and hardships — Acton — The 
Princess of the Asturias — Terrible tragedy — Suspicions of 
poison — The war in Calabria — Fra Diavolo — Agostino 
Mosca, the brigand — Conspiracies at Naples — An infernal 
machine — Admiral Collingwood — The Sicilian farm of the 
Prince Royal — The Princess Royal — Domestic life of the 
Queen and her children ..... 378 



CHAPTER XXIV 

The Princess Christine and the Duke of Genoa — Their 
marriage — Death of the Empress of Germany — Despair of 
the Queen— Sicily threatened — The Queen's letters — The 
son of Egalite — The love-affairs of Princess Amelie — The 
King refuses consent — The Princess threatens to take the 
veil — Her marriage to the Duke of Orleans . . . 395 



xvi CONTENTS 



CHAPTER XXV 



My grandmother the Queen of Sicily " — Obstinacy of Maria 
Carolina — The Duke and Duchess of Orleans — Illness of 
the Queen — Troubles and difficulties — Lord William 
Bentinck — Renewed troubles — The Queen leaves Palermo 
— The King agrees to the regency of the Prince Royal and 
retires to the country — A last attempt — Return of the King 
— Failure — Farewell to Sicily .... 408 



CHAPTER XXVI 

Departure from Palermo — The Queen's journey with Prince 
Leopold — The Marchesa Solari — Sad recollections — 
Arrival in Austria — The castle of Hetzenberg — Fall of the 
Emperor Napoleon — Arrival of the Empress Marie Louise 
— Her affection for her grandmother, the Queen of Naples 
— The King of Rome — The Queen's love for him — King 
Ferdinando orders the Minerva to fetch back the Queen 
and Prince Leopold — Death of the Queen . . .421 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



Maria Carolina Charlotte, Wife of Ferdinando 
IV., Queen of the Two Sicilies. {Mme, 
Vigee Le Brun) . . . Frontispiece 

Maria Theresia, Empress of Germany, Queen of 

Hungary, Bohemia, &c. {Marten) To face page 4 

Friederich the Great, King of Prussia 

{Wolf) . „ „ 9 

Wenzel Anton, Prinz von Kaunitz 

{Steiner) . „ ,, 17 

Francois (Etienne), Duke of Lorraine, 

Emperor of Germany . • >j » 25 

Group of Cavaliers, including the 
Emperor Joseph II., the Archduke 
Maximilien, and Albrecht, Duke 
OF Saxe-Teschen. {Brano) . . „ ,,42 

Carlos III., King of Spain. {Mengs) . „ „ 58 

I* xvii 



xviii A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

Joseph II., Emperor of Germany, and 
Leopold, Grand-duke of Tuscany, 
AFTERWARDS Emperor, 1 782 . To face page 66 

Autograph Letter of Maria Carolina, 
Queen of the Two Sicilies. {From 
the Collection of MSS. of Mr. A. M. 
Broadley) . . . • ,, ,, 83 

Ferdinando IV. AND Maria Carolina, 
King and Queen of Naples, and 
their Family . . . „ ,, 99 

Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, 
Wife of Louis XVI. {'^ Faisant un 
bouquet^ Mme. Vigee Le Brun^ Ver- 
sailles) . . . -J) }> 115 

Reception of Ferdinando IV. and 
Maria Carolina, King and Queen 
OF Naples, at the Austrian Court. 
(From a print in the Collection of Mr. 
A. M. Broadley) . . . „ ,,122 

Pius VI. . . . . . » » 126 

La Comtesse de Provence, Wife of 

Monsieur, afterwards Louis XVIII. „ ,, 128 

BouiLLi^ . . . . • » J, 136 

Lady Hamilton as "Nature" {Romney) „ „ 153 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xix 

Louis XVI. . . . To face page 167 

Lord Nelson. {Abbott) . . . „ ,,194 

Madame Elisabeth, Sister of Louis 

XVI „ „ 225 

Louis XVII. . . . . ,» „ 227 

Madame Royale . . . . „ ,, 228 

Battle of the Nile . . • n » 244 

Maria Carolina, Queen of Naples. 
(From a print in the possession of Mr. 
Hardy Manfield. Picture given by 
Queen to Lady Hamilton) . . „ ,,264 

Lord Nelson. {Italiaft Portrait painted 
at Naples and given by Queen Maria 
Carolina to Sir Thomas Hardy. From 
the original now in the possession of 
Mr. Hardy Manfield, of Portesham) . „ ,,287 

Autograph Letter of Ferdinando IV., 
King of Naples. [From Mr. A. M. 
Broadlefs Collection of MSS.) . ,, j? 313 

Francis I., Emperor of Austria 

{Kupelwieser) . „ ,,324 

Princess Ami^lie, Wife of Louis Philippe, 

King of France . . • „ »> 332 



XX A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

Prince Royal of Naples . To face page ^$$ 

Napoleon Buonaparte, First Consul. 

(Ingres) . . . • ,, „ 369 

Louis Philippe, Dug d'Orl^ans, King 

OF France. (Gerard) . • ,, » 4^4 

Ferdinando IV., King of the Two 
Sicilies. (From an original watercolour 
given by Queen Maria Carolina to Sir 
Thomas Hardy^ now in the possession 
of Mr. Hardy Manfield) . . ,, ,,417 

Vienna . . . ••»»»> 424 



PART I 

MARIA THERESIA AND HER 
CHILDREN 



CHAPTER I 

The Archduchess Maria Theresia — Frangois de Lorraine — The 
court of Carl VI. — The French Ambassador — Death of 
Carl VI.— The war— Flight of Maria Theresia— Rising of 
Hungary — The monarchy saved — Coronation of the Emperor 
— The imperial family — An adventure in a vineyard. 

MARIA CAROLINA CHARLOTTE was the 
thirteenth of the sixteen children born to 
the Empress Maria Theresia, Queen of Hungary, 
Bohemia, and the Netherlands, Archduchess of 
Austria, and the Emperor Franz, or Francois, of 
Lorraine,^ Grand-duke of Tuscany ; this latter 
province having been given him instead of his own 
Lorraine, which he had been compelled to cede to 
France. 

The marriage of Francois de Lorraine with the 
Austrian Archduchess had been an affair of Euro- 
pean importance, and for years the centre and 
object of intrigues and negotiations. For she was 
the eldest daughter of the Emperor Carl VI., her 
only brother had died in infancy, and her father, 

^ Though Lorraine was then an integral part of the German 
Empire, Frangois, who was also Due de Bar, was in tastes, habits, 
and characteristics a Frenchman. He never spoke German cor- 
rectly, and during his reign French was as much used as German 
at the court of Vienna. 

3 



4 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

finding that he was not Hkely to have any more 
sons, turned all his hopes and ambition and directed 
all his energy towards securing to his eldest 
daughter the whole of the vast succession of the 
house of Habsburg. 

This he at length effected by means of an agree- 
ment known as the Pragmatic Sanction, which 
guaranteed that magnificent inheritance to Maria 
Theresia. The Milanese, the Low Countries, the 
kingdoms of Hungary and Bohemia, and all the 
great Austrian provinces were to pass under her 
sway ; but it was stipulated that, in order to preserve 
the balance of power in Europe, the Archduchess 
should not be married either to any reigning sove- 
reign or to any prince of a powerful governing house. 

Under these circumstances it was impossible to 
find a more absolutely suitable husband for her 
than Francois de Lorraine. 

Although not sufficiently powerful to cause any 
uneasiness, there was no family more illustrious 
than that of Lorraine ; Francois was of the same 
religion as the Archduchess, was only a few years 
her senior, had an excellent disposition, was ex- 
tremely handsome, accomplished, and attractive, 
and he and Maria Theresia were passionately in 
love with each other. 

However, notwithstanding these considerations, 
his promises to the powers, and his love for his 
favourite child, the Emperor, weak and vacillating, 
listened first to one, then to another, and every now 
and then tormented his daughter by proposing to 
break off her engagement with Francois and marry 
her to someone else. 




Maria Theresia, Empress of Germany, 

Queen of HuNiMRy, Bohemia, etc. 

After a portrait by Marten. 



face p. 4. 



MARIA THE RES I A AND HER CHILDREN 5 

At one time it was Friederich the Great of 
Prussia, though he was a Protestant, more than 
half an atheist, and the Archduchess could not 
bear him ; but fortunately various opportune dis- 
closures respecting his private life and habits put 
an end to this project. 

Another time it was Don Carlos of Spain, and 
from him Maria Theresia was saved by her mother, 
the Empress Elisabeth, who interfered at her 
entreaty, declared that the happiness of her child 
should not be sacrificed, and used her powerful 
influence to such good effect that the marriage of 
the Archduchess and the Grand-duke of Tuscany 
was at last celebrated with all the pomp and 
splendour befitting an event of such world-wide 
importance (1736). 

As it has already been said, Franfois de Lorraine 
was remarkably handsome and fascinating, while 
Maria Theresia inherited to a great extent the beauty 
of her mother, the lovely Elisabeth of Wurtemberg, 
whom she greatly resembled. At the time of 
their marriage she was nineteen and her bride- 
groom twenty-eight years old ; they had known 
each other ever since she was four and he thirteen, 
when he had been brought to Vienna to be 
educated. 

During the four remaining years of the life of 
Carl VI., Francois and Maria Theresia lived at the 
court of Vienna, which at that time was a remark- 
ably dull one, as may be seen from the following 
letter from the Due de Richelieu, French Ambas- 
sador at Vienna, to Cardinal Polignac, French 
Ambassador at Rome : 



6 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

" J'ai mene ici a Vienne pendant tout le careme 
une existence etonnemment pieuse, qui ne m'a pas 
laiss^ un quart d'heure de liberty. ]e Tavoue franche- 
ment, si j'avais prevu la vie qu'un ambassadeur 
s'amuse a mener a Vienne, rien au monde n'aurait 
pu me decider a accepter cette mission, ou, sous 
couleur d'invitations et de ceremonies aux 
chapelles, les ambassadeurs sont obliges de suivre 
la cour comme des valets de chambre. II n'y a pas 
de capucin, si forte que soit sa sante, qui puisse 
resister a une pareille existence pendant le careme. 
Pour en donner une idee a Votre Eminence, je suis 
reste en tout depuis le dimanche des Rameaux 
jusqu'au mercredi apres Paques, cent heures a 
I'eglise, a la suite de I'Empereur. Le Comte de 
Luc, qui a passe dix-huit mois a Vienne, dont 
neuf ou dix avant de se faire presenter a la cour, 
et qui s'est fait dire ensuite malade, nous avait 
cach6 ce tresor de piete, dont j'ai du faire la 
decouverte a mes depens. ]e dois I'avouer, je 
m'imagine que le respect pour la Divinite pourrait 
comporter un peu plus de liberte, et que I'ennui 
force dont on nous fait ici gracieusement largesse et 
qu'on ne rencontre a ce point dans aucune autre 
cour, m'est tellement insupportable que je ne puis 
m'empecher de dire a Votre Eminence combien 
j'en suis excede." 

To which the Cardinal replied : 

" En ce qui touche le tableau que vous me faites 
de la fagon dont vous avez rempli votre devoir de 
Chretien pendant le careme et la semaine sainte, je 
ne puis que vous f^liciter d'etre sorti intact de ce 



MARIA THERESIA AND HER CHILDREN 7 

penible passage ; peut-etre n'avez-vous jamais tant 
fait dans votre vie. Pensez done que c'est exacte- 
ment la meme chose pour un cardinal a Rome. 
Mais vous me direz sans doute que nous sommes 
payes pour cela." ^ 

Such a personality as Richelieu must indeed have 
found himself out of place in a court thus described, 
a singular contrast to that of Louis XV. ; and in the 
answer of the Cardinal one cannot but remark the 
scarcely concealed amusement with which he had 
received these lamentations. 

^ " I have passed here in Vienna, during the whole of Lent, an 
extraordinarily pious existence, which has not allowed me a quarter 
of an hour's freedom. I frankly acknowledge that if I had foreseen 
the hfe an ambassador at Vienna must amuse himself by leading, 
nothing on earth would have induced me to accept that position, 
in which, under pretext of invitations and ceremonies in the 
chapels, the ambassadors are obliged to follow the court like valets 
de chambre. There is not a Capucin, however strong he may be, 
whose health could stand such a life during the whole of Lent. 
To give your Eminence an idea of it, I spent a hundred hours in 
church, in the suite of the Emperor, between Palm Sunday and the 
Wednesday after Easter. The Comte de Luc, who spent eighteen 
months at Vienna, was not presented at court during the first nine 
or ten months, and afterwards got himself declared to be ill, con- 
cealed from us this treasure of piety which I have had to discover 
at my own expense. I must say that I think respect for the 
Divinity might admit of a little more liberty, and the enforced 
emmi which they so graciously bestow upon us here, and which 
one does not meet with to this extent at any other court, is so 
insupportable to me, that I cannot help telling your Eminence how 
I am annoyed by it." 

To which the Cardinal replied : *' With regard to the picture you 
give me of the manner in which you fulfilled your duty as a 
Christian during Lent, I can only congratulate you on having come 
intact out of that painful passage (experience) ; perhaps you have 
never done so much before in your life. Consider, then, that it is 
exactly the same thing for a cardinal at Rome. But you will 
doubtless say that we are paid for that." — " Marie Therese " (Comte 
de Villermont). 



8 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

The death of Carl VI. (1740), which placed at the 
head of the court and country two young, hand- 
some, high-spirited sovereigns, mitigated the asceti- 
cism of this regime ; but the troubles and dangers 
which then arose were for a considerable time so 
serious as to obliterate all such comparatively unim- 
portant considerations. 

Friederich of Prussia claimed Silesia and the 
Elector of Bavaria the kingdom of Bohemia ; the 
guarantees of the Pragmatic Sanction were thrown 
to the winds ; George II. of England deserted 
Maria Theresia and signed a treaty of neutrality, 
while France joined with Prussia, Bavaria, and the 
other powers in their attempt to dismember the 
inheritance of the Habsbuirg. 

The treasury was nearly exhausted, the army 
weakened and diminished ; the people, overtaxed 
and poverty-stricken, were breaking into riots in 
different parts of the country ; the Prussian troops 
poured into Silesia, Prague fell into the hands of 
the Bavarians, and Maria Theresia, with her 
husband, mother, and infant children, fled to 
Hungary. She appeared at the Diet in Presburg 
wearing the Hungarian costume, with the sword and 
crown of St. Stephen, and pointing to her infant 
son in the arms of his nurse, claimed the protection 
of the chivalrous nobles of Hungary in an eloquent 
speech, ending in a passion of tears, which called 
forth an outburst of enthusiastic loyalty. 

All Hungary rose : a hundred thousand men 
flocked to her standard ; the Hungarian army saved 
Maria Theresia, Vienna, and the monarchy. ^ 

* *' Memoirs of the Court and Aristocracy of Austria " (E. Vehse). 




Freperick the Great, King of Prissia. 



Jo face f>. 9. 



MARIA THERESIA AND HER CHILDREN] g 

She never forgot it ; then and during her whole 
Hfe her love and gratitude never failed her beloved 
Hungary, which had stood by her in her hour of 
need. Upon her dying bed the name of Hungary 
was one of the last words she spoke. 

In 1745 Fran9ois de Lorraine was elected Em- 
peror and crowned at Frankfort, in spite of which 
supreme dignity he always played a secondary part 
to the Empress, who, absolute sovereign over her 
own vast dominions, held the reins with a firm 
hand, allowing no one, however near and dear, to 
interfere with her government or share her power. 

With her great minister, Kaunitz, she governed 
wisely though despotically the many and various 
states and nations under her sway ; but as this is 
the history, not of the Empress, but of one of her 
daughters, it is necessary to turn from these matters 
to describe the conditions and circumstances which 
surrounded and influenced the childhood and 
youth of the Archduchess Maria Carolina and her 
brothers and sisters. 

The Empress was a devoted mother. She spent 
with her children all the time she could spare from 
the affairs of the state ; she regulated and superin- 
tended every detail of their daily life and studies ; 
she was intensely anxious for their religious prin- 
ciples and conduct ; and if she were ready to sacri- 
fice any of them to political reasons, it was because 
in her the Empress and Queen outweighed the 
mother, and the welfare of the state was her first 
consideration, to which everything, even the happi- 
ness of her children, must give way. 

Meanwhile, the numerous young Archdukes and 



lo A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

Archduchesses led a happy Hfe at Vienna, or at the 
delightful country palaces and castles of their 
parents, both of whom, their mother especially, 
were devoted to country life. 

The only sister of the Empress had been married 
to Prince Carl, a younger son of the house of 
Lorraine, and died in childbirth a year afterwards ; 
but for many years the imperial family circle in- 
cluded the Empress Dowager, who was adored by 
her daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren, and 
the Princess Charlotte of Lorraine, only surviving 
sister of the Emperor, a kind-hearted, eccentric 
person, who hated Vienna, never ceased to regret 
Lorraine, which she had passionately loved, and 
finally, when her pretty nieces grew up, and she was 
still unmarried, declared she looked and felt absurd 
amongst them, especially as they had to take pre- 
cedence of her, and persuaded the Emperor and 
Empress to allow her to retire from court. Maria 
Theresia made her Superior of the great Abbey of 
Mons, where she lived as the representative of the 
Empress, who, as sovereign of the Netherlands, 
was head of that noble order. 

The little Archduchess Elisabeth, eldest child of 
the Empress, died at three years old, to the great 
grief of her parents ; but after her came Marianne, 
Joseph, Christine, Carl, Leopold, Elisabeth, Johanna, 
Amalie, Josepha, Maria Carolina, Ferdinand, Max- 
imilien, and Marie Antoinette, besides three babies 
that did not live. 

There could scarcely be a greater contrast than 
that between the court in which these children were 
brought up and those over which some of them 



MARIA THE.RESIA AND HER CHILDREN ii 

were afterwards called upon to reign. With all the 
state and ceremony of court functions mingled the 
simplicity and domestic life of Germany. 

Maria Theresia cared little for dress, and thought 
nothing of her beauty except for the sake of her 
husband, for whom her love always remained un- 
changed. Her toilet in daily life was very simple ; 
she rose at four or five o'clock in summer, and at 
six in winter, went to Mass, breakfasted hastily, 
heard a second Mass, then saw her children, 
and spent the morning in transacting business ; 
dined at one o'clock, often alone, after which she 
allowed herself two hours' recreation before return- 
ing to work or to give audiences until six o'clock, 
when she attended vespers. The business of the 
day was then supposed to be over ; the card-tables 
were arranged, and at eight o'clock was supper. 
Very often the Empress went to bed at ten, or even 
earlier. 

From early spring till late autumn, she remained 
in the country at one or other of the imperial 
palaces, her favourites being Laxenburg and above 
all Schdnbrunn, both near Vienna. At Schonbrunn 
she inhabited eight rooms on the ground-floor near 
the orangery, which were painted in what was called 
Indian fashion, with palms and tropical foliage, 
flowers, fruit, and birds, and furnished, some in 
white and gold, others grey and gold ; her bedroom 
was painted ash-grey, and the bed hung with bro- 
cade curtains of the same colour. A glass door 
from these rooms opened into an avenue leading to 
a secluded arbour, where she used to go, carrying a 
tray full of letters and documents slung round her 



12 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

neck, with which she occupied herself hour after 
hour, while a sentinel stood outside to keep off 
intruders. 

The young princes and princesses were taught 
the Magyar language, and the Archduke Joseph as a 
child wore the Hungarian dress and had for his 
governor one of the great Hungarian family of 
Batthiany. 

The castle of Schonbrunn, on the banks of the 
river Wien, and surrounded by beautiful gardens, 
was added to and embellished by the Empress ; 
Laxenburg was very near, and the court or some of 
the royal family were often there, or at other and more 
distant castles, such as Hofberg and Mannensdorf. 

It was from the latter that, one hot afternoon in 
October, Franz and Maria Theresia went out for a 
walk unattended a little beyond the village. As they 
wandered amongst the vineyards, now glowing with 
autumn colour and loaded with ripe fruit, Maria 
Theresia, tired and thirsty, gathered a large bunch of 
grapes, and had begun to eat them when suddenly 
rough, angry voices were heard, and four gardes- 
vignes appeared, furiously demanding who had 
given them leave to gather the grapes. 

^' Yes, I gathered a bunch of grapes," said the 
Emperor, **and what then ? " 

'* What then ? What then ? " cried the guards. 
^' Why, you will pay five florins fine." 

But they had neither of them any money, and the 
guards, refusing to listen to any explanations, hurried 
them to the house of the chief official of the village, 
pouring forth reproaches and threats all the way. 

The jiige de la commune, who was out in the fields. 



MARIA THERESIA AND HER CHILDREN 13 

was sent for, arrived in his shirt sleeves very angry, 
and asked, " Can you pay the five florins ? " 

"No." 

'^ Well, then, you will be imprisoned for twenty- 
four hours in the bacon-room," and pushing them 
in, he continued, " You will stay there till to-morrow, 
and I shall bring you some bread, which is all you 
will want." 

So saying, he shut the door and departed, while 
his royal prisoners at first burst into fits of laughter, 
but after a time, becoming tired of the bacon-room, 
begged the guard who brought them some bread 
and water to go to the administrateiir of the chdteaii 
and say that M. Francois Etienne asked for the loan 
of five florins to pay his fine. 

The guard was very unwilling to go, saying that 
he would not be listened to or attended to, and 
would perhaps be reprimanded for coming ; but 
after much persuasion and the promise of a large 
reward he consented, and reluctantly presented 
himself at the castle. Just as he expected, the 
officer in question, who was disturbed during 
his siesta, received him with displeasure and 
suspicion ; but directly he heard the message, to 
the utter astonishment of the guard, that respect- 
able personage sprang up and rushed out of the 
house without his hat, shouting to the guard to 
fetch the juge de la commune at once. That 
individual hastened to appear, and on hearing 
the truth, flung open the door and threw himself 
upon his knees before his illustrious prisoners, who 
only laughed, paid the fine, gave money to the 
guard, and exempted the vineyard from the dime. 



CHAPTER II 

The court of Maria Theresia — Kaunitz — The imperial children — 
Christine and Carl — The Archduchess Marianne — Love-affair 
of the Archduchess Christine and Albrecht of Saxe-Teschen — 
Their marriage — The Archduchess Elisabeth — An unwilling 
Abbess — The Archduke Joseph — Character of the Empress — 
Her despotic rule — The amusements of the Emperor — His 
love-affairs and liaisons. 

THE Emperor Frangois de Lorraine had soon 
introduced into the society of Vienna, with the 
use of the French language, much of the refinement 
and ease which had hitherto been wanting in the 
manners, customs, and amusements of the Austrian 
court. Gradually the old Spanish stiffness and 
German awkwardness were yielding to the grace 
and vivacity of France ; far away seemed the days 
when Carl VI. would not even allow coffee to 
be drunk, and the Archduchess, after her marriage, 
was obliged to get her coffee berries smuggled 
in her bag of devotional books or the holsters 
of her husband's pistols. Splendid fetes and 
balls were given — the Empress herself was 
extremely fond of dancing ; the great nobles, enor- 
mously rich and powerful, vied with each other 
in splendour ; the imperial household was ex- 
ceedingly costly : there were two thousand two 

14 



MARIA THERESIA AND HER CHILDREN 15 

hundred horses in the stables ; the furniture of 
the ^'Gilt Hall of Mirrors," where the Empress 
dined in public, cost 90,000 florins ; the gold 
embroidered canopy under which the table stood, 
30,000 ; the dinner service of massive gold, 
1,300,000 florins. All of these were ordered by 
the Emperor. He passionately loved pleasure 
and magnificence, and, although not a Richelieu 
or Louis XV., was an enthusiastic admirer of 
beauty, very fond of the society of women, and 
much inclined to the sort of adventures and liaisons 
which were most displeasing to the Empress, from 
whom they had to be carefully concealed. 

For there could be no question of introducing 
into the court of Maria Theresia the tone and 
the morals of that of Louis XV. ; the Empress 
regarded the proceedings of the Emperor with a 
jealous eye, put an end to his flirtations when- 
ever she discovered them, and visited their objects 
with her condign displeasure. She discouraged 
as far as possible all affairs of gallantry and 
love intrigues, and, in fact, carried her strictness 
and propriety to such an extreme that they 
became at times intolerable. She would not allow 
young women to walk about the streets by them- 
selves unless they were going to church, and every 
now and then some harmless girl going to her work 
was arrested by one of the prying, meddlesome 
officers of a ridiculous society she had instituted 
for the preservation of morality, and called the 
'^ Society" or '' Commission " of purity or chastity, 
whose agents patrolled the streets night and day. ^ 

^ E. Vehse. 



i6 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

Riding, music, masked balls, theatrical per- 
formances, and religious ceremonies were her 
favourite relaxations ; she especially liked attend- 
ing the profession of any one she knew who 
was entering a convent. ^ 

The term corps diplomatique was first used under 
Maria Theresia, and of all the diplomatists of the 
imperial court comprehended in that convenient 
name, none could be compared in genius, power, 
and fame with the great Kaunitz ; the Richelieu of 
Austria, though without the sanguinary disposition 
of the great Frenchman. 

So powerful and so widespread was his influence 
that he was called ^' le coclier de I' Europe," and so 
supreme was his ascendancy over the Empress that 
she found herself obliged to condone the licence of 
his private morals in a manner most unusual and 
vexatious to herself. 

For she could not do without Kaunitz, and during 
all the earlier portion of his career his intrigues and 
liaisons were so open and so notorious that he would 
take his mistresses in the carriage with him to the 
gates of the imperial palace, leave them there to 
wait for him during his audience with the Empress, 
and return to them when it was over. 

It can be well understood how this irritated Maria 
Theresia, but when on one occasion she signified 
her displeasure, he replied coolly : 

^^ Madame, je suis venu ici pour parler des affaires 
de Voire Majeste, iion des niiennes." ^ 

' " Geschichte Maria Theresia's" (Alfred Ritter von Arneth). 
^^ " Madame, I came here to talk of your Majesty's affairs, not 
of mine " (Vehse). 




Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kalnitz. 
After a painting by Steiner. 



To face p. 17 



MARIA TBERESIA AND HER CHILDREN 17 

Wenceslaus Anton, Prince von Kaunitz, was born 
of an ancient Slavonic family in Moravia (171 1). 
He followed the usual diplomatic career, but 
rose so rapidly that while he was still a young 
man the Minister Uhlefeld laid one of his des- 
patches on the table of the Empress with the 
remark : 

*^ Here is your Majesty's Prime Minister." 

Tall and good looking, he was in manners, tastes, 
and habits so entirely French that he affected to 
speak German imperfectly, to the indignation of the 
old Austrian party, but he had certain German 
characteristics which contributed greatly to the 
success of his astonishing career. 

He built two splendid country palaces at 
Mariahilf and Laxenburg, and kept open house 
in Vienna, his magnificent establishment being 
presided over first by his wife, Marie Ernestine, 
Countess of Starhemberg, whose morals, according 
to Swinburne, very much resembled his own ; and, 
after her death (1749), by his sister. Countess von 
Questenberg, very much disliked in society ; when 
she died her place was supplied by the Dowager 
Countess Clary, who was extremely popular, and 
was known as '^ la petite veuve." She had married 
at fifteen a man of seventy-five, who so'on died, 
and she had never re-married. During his later 
life Prince von Kaunitz took inordinate care of 
his health, and made an absurd fuss and difBculty 
about his food, which in those days was not 
usual. I 

It is curious that a son of his, by a Belgian 
' Vehse. 
3 



l8 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

mistress, was a furious Jacobin in the French 
Revolution, 

Notwithstanding the excessive strictness of the 
Empress, the Hves of her children were by no 
means dull. Maria Theresia, whose early educa- 
tion had been much neglected, w^as very anxious 
about the studies of her sons ; her daughters had 
shorter hours of lessons and more religious exer- 
cises. There was much freedom and relaxation 
of etiquette in their country homes : the park and 
gardens at Schonbrunn were open to the public, 
who walked freely about the grounds. The 
Empress would often say to the nobles and 
officials whom she met : 

"Will you come and see my children act and 
dance ? " 

For there were plenty of children's balls, at which 
the little Archduchesses danced till they were tired 
out, and private theatricals were amongst their 
favourite amusements. Count von Kevenhiiller 
mentions a play called *' Saturnales " which was 
being performed in Vienna, and which the 
imperial children also acted. The Archduke 
Joseph took the part of Caesar, Carl of Cinna ; 
Leopold and the Archduchesses Marianne, Elisa- 
beth, and Amalie also played in it. Kevenhiiller 
was invited to see it, and thought the dialogue 
too long and too serious for actors of that age. 
Unfortunately he said so, and his remark was 
overheard by the Empress, who was not at all 
pleased. I 

The Archduke Joseph, though possessing some 
* Von Arneth. 



MARIA THERESIA AND HER CHILDREN 19 

valuable qualities, was by no means so attractive 
as some of his brothers, for he was selfish, prig- 
gish, and full of crotchets, and his progress in his 
studies was much slower than that of his next 
brothers, Carl and Leopold. 

Carl and Christine, their second son and daughter, 
were the favourites of the Emperor and Empress. 
They were the most brilliant and gifted of all the 
children, both of them being extremely handsome, 
attractive, and talented. Christine was very like 
the Empress, not only in appearance but in char- 
acter, and probably for this reason there was 
between Maria Theresia and this daughter a fuller 
sympathy and more perfect understanding than 
with the rest. And she was the only one of the 
daughters of Maria Theresia whose life was a 
thoroughly happy and prosperous one ; for of all 
the thirteen merry children who danced and acted 
in the splendid salons of Vienna, or played in the 
shady gardens of Schonbrunn and Laxenburg, 
scarcely a single one had a fortunate lot. Either 
an early death, a disappointed and unsatisfied life, 
or else one filled with storms and trials, was the 
fate reserved for nearly every one of the hand- 
some boys and pretty, fair girls upon whom the 
Emperor and Empress looked with such pride 
and affection and about whose future Maria 
Theresia was so occupied. 

With all the simplicity of her daily life, the 
Empress every now and then gave magnificent 
fetes. At one which took place at Schlosshof, 
although the chateau was very large, a temporary 
building four hundred feet long was erected in 



20 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

front of it and lighted with a hundred thousand 
lamps. Six thousand people were at the ball, and 
there were beds, doctors, and even midwives in 
attendance in case of accidents. 

At a grand masquerade witnessed by Dr. Moore 
at Schonbrunn, for which four thousand tickets 
were issued, a company of dragoons kept order 
upon the road to Vienna. In three large halls on 
the ground floor tables were laid with a profusion 
of refreshments, fruits, and costly wines. There 
was a splendid ballet of twenty-four persons, 
including some of the Archdukes and Arch- 
duchesses, all wearing fancy dresses of white silk, 
trimmed with pink and blazing with diamonds. 
The court was enormously expensive, and Maria 
Theresia was most generous in her charities. 
Often when driving out she would fill her pocket 
with gold, to throw out of the window to poor 
people. 

Her eldest daughter, the Archduchess Marianne,^ 
had always delicate health, and the Empress made 
her after a time Abbess of Prague. She was clever, 
intellectual, and even learned, deeply interested in 
geological and mineralogical studies ; she was a 
pupil of the celebrated Professor Born. With her 
peaceful, stately, religious life and intellectual 
pursuits in the sheltered splendour of her Austrian 
home, it is probable that her lot was much happier 
than those of her sisters, who were sent to distant 
homes in foreign countries with uncongenial hus- 
bands. For the remembrance of her own youth and 

^ The Archduchess Marianne was plain and slightly deformed ; 
there could be no question of her marriage. 



MARIA THERESIA AND HER CHILDREN 21 

the romance of her love for Francois de Lorraine 
did not influence the Empress in her deahngs 
with her daughters ; only in one instance did she 
allow a marriage to be decided by inclination 
instead of policy. 

Albrecht von Saxe-Teschen was a distinguished 
young officer in the Austrian service. He was 
a younger son of Augustus the Strong, King of 
Poland, and was related to the imperial family, 
but he had neither lands nor money, and when 
he fell in love with the Archduchess Christine 
and she returned his passion, it could not be 
supposed that the Empress, with her views con- 
cerning her daughters' marriages, would consent 
to entertain the idea of any such alliance. How- 
ever, Maria Theresia was fortunately very fond of 
Albrecht and touched by their devotion to each 
other ; therefore she yielded to the entreaties of her 
favourite daughter, allowed the marriage to take 
place (1766), and proceeded to provide magnifi- 
cently for her daughter and son-in-law. Christine 
had a large dowry, and Albrecht was made Duke 
of Teschen, Commander-in-chief of the army, and 
Field-Marshal. The Empress gave him the order 
of the Golden Fleece, made him and her daughter 
Governors of Hungary, and they took up their 
abode at Presburg, where they held a splendid 
court, and where she frequently visited them. 
After the death of Charles of Lorraine she made 
Christine Governess of the Low Countries. The 
love of Albrecht and Christine never changed, 
and after she died in 1798 he ever remained 
faithful to her memory. He lived to be 84 (1822). 



22 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

Much less fortunate was the third daughter, 
EHsabeth, by some considered the prettiest of all 
the Archduchesses. Several marriages proposed 
for her came to nothing ; one project of marrying 
her to the King of Poland was stopped by the 
Empress Catherine of Russia ; another suitor who 
pleased Maria Theresia was a son of the King 
of Sardinia, but he had no money, and so much 
had been spent upon Marianne and Christine that 
enough could not be spared for Elisabeth, which 
seems hard upon her. Then there was an idea of 
marrying her to Louis XV., after the death of Queen 
Marie Leczinska, daughter of Stanislaus of Poland ; 
but meanwhile the small-pox, that fearful scourge 
to the imperial family, had destroyed the beauty 
of Elisabeth, and the King of France declared he 
would marry her only if she were good-looking, 
the fact being that he did not want to marry at 
all. The Empress therefore made her Abbess of 
Innsbruck, but, if her sister Marianne was satis- 
fied with such a lot, Elisabeth was not. Lively, 
amusing, and high-spirited, she did not want to 
be an abbess at all, but to marry, and she com- 
plained bitterly of the dulness of her life when 
she had outgrown the diversions and pleasures of 
early youth without obtaining the freedom of later 
years. 

For the despotic rule of the Empress continued 
as long as she lived over all the sons and daughters 
who remained with her, even the Crown Prince 
himself. Much as she loved the Emperor Franz, 
she would never allow even him in any way to 
interfere with her government, while from her 



MARIA THERESIA AND HER CHILDREN 23 

sons and daughters and all around her she 
exacted the most implicit obedience. 

When the Archduchess Elisabeth was forty years 
old, the English Ambassador, Sir Robert Keith, 
went to pay her a visit of condolence on being 
laid up with an abscess in her cheek, but the 
Archduchess laughed and said : 

^^ Believe me, for an archduchess of forty years 
old who is not married, a hole in the cheek is 
an amusement 1 " 

She proceeded to explain that she was thankful 
for anything that broke the dulness and ennui of 
her life, and to complain bitterly of the repression 
and tyranny of Maria Theresia, which she declared 
to be outrageous over daughters of that age, whom 
she kept under preposterous restraint. 

But to return to the earlier and happier years 
of the Austrian imperial family, before any of 
these marriages or religious professions had been 
arranged, or the large circle of brothers and sisters 
had been broken into. 

Carl was always the idol of his parents. Hand- 
some, talented, and lively, though he had much 
more capacity than his elder brother, his tutor 
complained that he was so volatile that a fly or 
a grain of sand would attract his attention from 
his lessons.! 

The Emperor, debarred from taking any active 
share in the government, was unjustly described 
afterwards by his son Joseph as " an idler sur- 
rounded by flatterers." 

But Joseph was one of the sort of people fond of 

* Arneth. 



24 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

saying disagreeable things, to whom contradiction 
and opposition are a real pleasure. And the 
excessive strictness of the Empress had caused in 
him a strong reaction against the ideas she insisted 
on carrying out. It is constantly remarked that the 
children of overstrict parents, who are not allowed 
to do anything, and are brought up to think every- 
thing wrong, as they grow up seem to arrive at the 
conclusion that nothing is wrong, or, at any rate, 
certainly not the things they have been taught to 
consider so ; and Joseph hated whatever his parents 
liked, and liked whatever they hated. The Em- 
peror had become exceedingly anxious to preserve 
friendly relations with France — he was thoroughly 
French in taste and sympathies, and from his child- 
hood had spoken no other language with ease. The 
Crown Prince could not bear France, or any person, 
thing, or custom connected with that country. His 
father was a good Catholic, and his mother an 
extremely strict one, whereas he was inclined to be 
lax in religious matters, opposed the clergy, and was 
a friend and admirer of Rousseau and the encyclo- 
pedists. He was full of good intentions, which he 
tried to carry out — generally with very Httle success 
— and was by no means popular. 

The Empress Maria Theresia was not only a 
great sovereign, but a woman of noble and lofty 
character, strong alike in courage, intellect, princi- 
ples and affections ; but her proud, despotic temper 
threw its shadow over the otherwise happy family 
life in which she so delighted. 

With all their love for each other, and the sunny, 
light-hearted disposition of the Emperor, the way in 




I)r( J, Lr//{/LUx/':.\r: 



Francois Etienne, Duke of Lorraine, 
Emperor of Germany. 



To face p. 25 



MARIA THERESIA AND HER CHILDREN 25 

which she excluded him from all share in the 
government vexed him and slightly roused his 
temper. On one occasion, when he was com- 
plaining of the money she threw away upon various 
hypocritical persons who by great pretence of 
religion and virtue insinuated themselves into her 
favour, she replied significantly, '' The ducats are 
all Kremnitzers " ; thereby reminding him that the 
gold mines of Hungary and their produce did not 
belong either to a German Emperor or a Grand- 
duke of Tuscany. 

Fran9ois, however, did many useful things for the 
state, especially for the administration of finance, 
which had been frightfully mismanaged. He dis- 
covered and exposed the gross frauds practised 
in the army, the imperial household, and elsewhere. 
His own financial matters he conducted with great 
success : his duchy of Tuscany yielded him a large 
revenue, and he bought great estates in Austria and 
Hungary, all of which were equally well managed. 

Both he and the Empress were perfect riders, 
and he was also good at all outdoor sports. He 
hunted, shot, played billiards, collected pictures, 
coins, and antiquities, patronised painters, musicians, 
and actors,! and was extremely fond of society. 

In spite of the vigilance of the Empress he con- 
trived to carry on various intrigues and liaisons ; 
supper-parties unknown to her from time to time 
took place, and it was rumoured that his shooting 
expeditions were not entirely spent in the pursuit of 
game in field or forest. In his earlier married life 
he carried on love-affairs, amongst others, with the 
* " Marie Therese " (Comte de Villermont). 



26 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

Countess Colloredo, and with Countess Palffy, one 
of the maids of honour to the Empress. 

Afterwards, his chief favourite was the beautiful 
Princess von Auersperg, who at seventeen had 
been married to a man twice her age and a 
widower, and could not resist the fascination of 
the Emperor's love. 

Frangois detested etiquette and stiffness, and 
would say to different ladies present at some great 
function ; 

" I shall stay with you till the court is gone. By 
the court I mean the Empress and my children ; 
I am here only as a private person." ^ 

* Vehse. 



CHAPTER III 

The Empress and her children — Betrothal of the Archduchess 
Johanna to the King of Naples — Joseph, Carl, and Leopold — 
Death of Carl — Isabella of Parma — Strange romance of her 
history — Her marriage with the Crown Prince — Her friendship 
with Christine — Gloomy presentiments — Death of Johanna — 
" It is the summons " — Death of Isabella — Unhappy second 
marriage of the Crown Prince — Marriage of the Archduke 
Leopold — Death of the Emperor. 

AMID the weight of cares, occupations, and 
interests that filled her life, Maria Theresia 
troubled herself little more about her health than 
her beauty. Capable of enduring an immense 
amount of fatigue, she gave herself no rest. When 
she was tired out with writing and transacting 
business, she sent for her children by way of relaxa- 
tion, and this she would often do three or four 
times in a day. 

On one occasion, as the Italian writer of the 
following notice remarks, her carelessness cost the 
life of one of her children and endangered her 
own. 

" Diedo, Sept. 21, 1748. — On Tuesday, towards 
night, Her Majesty gave birth to an Archduchess 
who died a few minutes afterwards, baptized, how- 
ever, by a lady among the assistants. Her Majesty 

27 



28 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

was suddenly seized with the pains while walking in 
the garden, and in a very short time had passed 
through that ever perilous moment. The evening 
before she had been at the opera in the city, and 
drove back, as usual, at a rapid pace. The loss of 
the infant Princess is attributed to the absolute 
want of care of her Majesty for her safety, for, 
although entreated to consider it, she despises 
everything that might be called even a necessary 
precaution." ^ 

This happened before the death of the Empress 
Dowager (1750), who had been an invalid for some 
years, but whose loss was a great sorrow to the 
imperial family. That same year was born the Arch- 
duchess Johanna, the next year the Archduchess 
Josepha, a year and a half later, Maria Carolina, 
and after her Ferdinand, Marie Antoinette, and 
Maximilien. These, the '^ little ones " of the 
family, appear to have been all together under the 
care of their governesses, to whom, when she was 
absent, the Empress wrote minute details about 
their lessons, their walks, their health, their 
conduct, &c. 

Four hours' lessons a day, with half an hour's 

^ " Diedo, Set. 21, 1748. — Verso la notte del Maitedi Sua Majesta 
diede alia luce un' Arciduchessa, che e morta poche minute dopo del 
parto, battesimata pero da una dama cola assistente. Fu sorpresa 
S.M. dai dolori mentre passeggiava nel giardino e in brevissimo 
spazio sorti dal sempre pericoloso momento. Era stata la sera 
antecedente all' opera in citta, valendosi gia di carrozza, e lasciando 
tenere I'uso solito di un rapido corso. Vien attribuito la man- 
canza della bambina principessa alia niuna risserva di S.M. nel 
riguardo della sua preservazione, essa pero benche insinuata ad 
haversi riflesso, e disprezzante affatto di tutto quello che potrebbe 
dirsi anche necessaria precauzione." 



MARIA THERESIA AND HER CHILDREN 29 

reading of history, were considered by their mother 
sufficient for any of the Archduchesses/ but if, as 
historians say, they were made to go oftener to 
church than their brothers, much time must have 
been indeed spent there, for it is recorded that 
one Easter, when the Archduke Joseph was 
eleven, he was taken to eighteen churches by his 
father. 

According to the fashion of the day, the Empress 
began to consider their marriages while they were 
still mere children, and being anxious to ally herself 
closely with the Bourbon, she resolved to marry 
several of her sons and daughters to members of 
that family. 

She determined that one of them should be 
Queen of Naples, and as the King, Ferdinando IV., 
was too young for her elder daughters, she chose 
Johanna, who was of a more suitable age, and who 
was accordingly betrothed to him. For a consider- 
able time negotiations had been going on for the 
marriages of her three elder sons. 

One project was to marry the Crown Prince to 
Isabella, daughter of the Duke of Parma, and a 
Bourbon twice over, as her father was the son of 
Philippe V. of Spain, younger son of the Dauphin, 
and grandson of Louis XIV., while her mother, 
now dead, was the eldest daughter of Louis XV. 

But there had also been a proposal to marry him 
to the eldest daughter of the King of Spain, who 
objected when the next brother, Carl, was sub- 
stituted for him. Carl was far more attractive than 
Joseph, and was to succeed his father as Grand- 
' Aineth. 



30 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

duke of Tuscany, but of course was not nearly so 
splendid an alliance as his elder brother. 

The Emperor and Empress would have had no 
objection to change the wives destined for their 
sons, but the Crown Prince had seen the portrait 
of Isabella and fallen deeply in love with her, 
while everything he heard about her confirmed his 
resolution to marry nobody else. 

He remonstrated, implored, and so beset his 
parents with his entreaties and prayers that they 
wrote to the King of Spain explaining the state of 
things, and with many regrets and apologies, repre- 
senting that they could not in this case force their 
son's inclinations. 

Leopold was to marry the granddaughter and 
sole heiress of the Duke of Modena, whom he was 
to succeed, this arrangement having been made 
when he was six and she three years old.^ 

But at the beginning of 1761 a terrible calamity 
fell upon the imperial family. The small-pox, that 
scourge of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, 
broke out amongst them ; the two eldest sons and 
several others were dangerously ill, however — 
although, considering what the treatment for small- 
pox was in those days, it is a wonder any one ever 
survived it at all — most, including the Crown 
Prince, recovered; but Carl, the idol of his father 
and mother, the most promising of their sons and 
the favourite of everybody, had a sudden relapse, 
and died on the night of January 17, 1761. 

'' In spite of apparent amendment, all the 
remedies and all the endeavours made to subdue 
* Arneth ("Maria Theresia nach dem Erbfolgekriege "). 



MARIA THERESIA AND HER CHILDREN 31 

the malignity of the disease, his Royal Highness 
was seized unexpectedly with a new and violent 
paroxysm last Saturday after midnight, after a day 
during which there had appeared better hope than 
on any other. He died with courage, resignation, 
and calmness, admirable indeed at his tender age 
of sixteen years, and which prove the excellent 
principles of the education given to all this imperial 
family. 

"The bitter anguish of the Sovereigns and of every 
one of the Princes was indescribable, and indeed 
the sorrow of the whole city was very similar, for 
the Archduke was generally beloved for his really 
extraordinary qualities and gifts." ^ 

" Maria Theresia was all the more prostrated by 
this loss because it was just this son she loved best 
of all, and especially more than the Crown Prince, 
as he had always been so much less self-willed, and 
more obedient to his parents." ^ 



^ " Malgrado I'apparso miglioramento, tutti i remedj, e tutta la cura 
prestata per vincere nell' Arciduca Carlo la maligna forza del male, 
sorpresa S.A.R. improvisamente da un nuovo violento parosismo, 
sabato scorso dopo la mezza notte, giorno in cui furono d'ogni altro 
giorno le speranze maggiori, fini di vivere con una rassegnazione e 
costanza e tranquillita d' animo, che facendo ammirazione supera da 
un canto le misure d' una tenera eta di sedici anni, e fa dall' altro 
conoscere li ottimi semi di educazione sparsi in tutta questa 
imperiale famiglia. Fu qui indicibile 1' amara angustia di questi 
Sovrani e di ognuno dei Principi, e poco dissimile il dolore della 
citta tutta, amata I'Arciduca generalmente per le qualita sue vera- 
mente egregie di mente, d'animo e di persona .... "(Ruzzini). 

' " Es war behauptet dass Maria Theresia durch diesen Verlust um 
so dieser dareinder gebeugt worden sei weil sie gerade diesen Sohn, 
am meisten, und zwar mehr noch als den Kronprinzen geliebt habe, 
indem er vveniger eigenwillig und gehorsamer gegen seine Eltern 
gevvesen sei alst jener " (Arneth). 



32 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

In consequence of the death of the Archduke Carl, 
the Infanta Ludovica of Spain was betrothed to the 
Archduke Leopold, upon whom the succession of 
Tuscany was now settled, while his little brother, 
Ferdinand, was put in his place as the future 
husband of Maria Beatrice of Modena. 

The wedding of the Crown Prince with Isabella 
of Parma was celebrated in the autumn following 
the death of Carl. The strange, melancholy 
romance attached to this marriage, which blighted 
the life of Joseph II., is related by all historians and 
well known to all readers familiar w'ith the 
history of that time. Isabella, eldest da,ughter of 
the Duke of Parma, then about sixteen or seventeen 
years old, w^as a personality around whom lingers 
an indescribable charm. She did not possess the 
beauty of her Austrian sisters-in-law; she had lovely 
eyes and hair and a graceful form, but her dark face 
and irregular features contrasted with their bright 
blue eyes, golden hair, and dazzling complexions ; 
still there was about her a fascination which no one 
could resist. The Crown Prince, unlike his father, 
usually cold and indifferent to the attractions of 
women, was her slave from the first moment he saw 
her. The Empress adored her ; so did her brothers 
and sisters-in-law ^ ; and she returned their affec- 
tion with all the ardour of a young, warm-hearted 
girl and an Italian. 

Between her and Christine there immediately 
arose an enthusiastic attachment which never 
changed. Years afterwards Christine went to 

* Except the Archduchess Marianne, for whom she never cared 
(Arneth). 



MARIA THERESIA AND HER CHILDREN 33 

Colorno ^ and wandered sorrowfully through the 
rooms which Isabella had occupied before her 
marriage, looking with mournful affection at every 
object which had belonged to her and recalling the 
descriptions she had so often given her of the home 
of her childhood. 

Several different explanations and reasons have 
been given for the strange melancholy and the 
presentiment of early death, the persistence and ful- 
filment of which are the only certainties about the 
whole story. It has, for instance, been declared that 
Isabella had an earlier attachment which made her 
marriage with the Austrian Crown Prince the sacri- 
fice of her happiness. But of this there is no 
corroboration whatever. No person has ever been 
fixed upon as a possible subject for any such 
romance, and the Archduchess Christine, who 
possessed her entire confidence, knew of no 
entanglement. 

Another cause assigned was that Isabella had 
wished to dedicate herself to the life of the cloister. 
Of this again there is no proof. She showed no dislike 
to her marriage with Joseph, though she certainly told 
the Prince von Lichtenstein, when he came to ask 
for her hand, that it was useless for her to become 
the wife of the Crown Prince, as she would not 
live long. 

A third explanation of this mysterious story was 
that the Duchess of Parma, her mother, whom she 
adored and by whom she had been trained and 
entirely influenced, having died a year before, 
Isabella, overpowered with grief and despair, knelt 

* Isabella was brought up at the castle of Colorno, in the country. 
4 



34 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

by her mother's bier and prayed earnestly and 
passionately that she might die and go to her ; that 
she distinctly heard a voice say the word ^' three/' 
from which she concluded and hoped that she would 
die in the third day, week, or month from that time. 
Finding herself mistaken, she resigned herself to 
wait until the third year, during which she felt 
convinced her death would take place.^ 

In the meanwhile she seems to have made herself 
tolerably happy in her married life. She does not 
appear to have returned the passionate love lavished 
upon her by her husband, but to have felt for him 
the kind of calm affection which many people 
have considered quite a sufficient and desirable 
substitute. 

As to the assertion that after her death Christine, 
thinking to lessen her brother's grief, told him that 
Isabella had never loved him and that that changed 
his feelings for her and embittered him against all 
women, this does not seem to be probable. For 
even if it is allowed that a woman like Christine 
could make so foolish and so cruel a mistake, the 
numerous letters of the Crown Prince, long after 
the death of his first wife, prove that his love and 
regret for her were never altered.^ He never ceased 
to refer to the perfect happiness he had enjoyed 
with her, and although he was rather fond of the 
society of women and made various social and 
intellectual friendships with different members of 

* It must, however, be noted that, as Herr von Arneth remarks, 
Isabella did not die at the expiration of three years but only before 
the fourth year v^^as completed. 

" Arneth. 



MARIA THERESIA AND HER CHILDREN 35 

his court, nothing of the nature of a love-affair was 
ever recorded of him.^ 

They had many pursuits in common, especially 
music, in which both excelled, but Isabella was 
altogether an extraordinary woman. A letter to 
Christine, when one considers that the writer was 
a girl of seventeen or eighteen, is a proof of her 
uncommon versatility and intellectual gifts. In it 
she compares her own head to a cupboard belonging 
to her, in which she says she keeps a miscellaneous 
collection of her writings and compositions of all 
descriptions. A political treatise, a comic opera, 
a vaudeville, a work on education, a sermon, an 
essay on the vanity of this world, moral precepts, a 
composition for the piano, letters from a hundred 
persons of all sorts, from those of the Empress, which 
were the joy of her life, to others from persons 
absolutely indifferent to her. A httle philosophy, 
stories, songs, metaphysics, poems, logic, &c. 

Her affection for Christine was the great delight 
of her life, and often aroused the jealousy of the 
Crown Prince, who was himself very much inclined 
to be jealous of this particular sister, only a year his 
junior and the undoubted favourite of his parents ; 
handsome, hasty, impetuous, proud, masterful, but 
talented, warm-hearted, true and unwavering either 
in love or friendship. In 1762 a daughter was born 
to Isabella, to the delight of both herself and the 
Crown Prince, but in spite of all the happiness she 
enjoyed, her expectation of and longing for death 
was ever in her mind. 

In December, 1762, the small-pox again appeared 
* Vehse. 



36 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

amongst the imperial family, and this time the 
victim was the Archduchess Johanna, then about 
twelve years old. 

"I am very happy about my sister Johanna," 
wrote Isabella to Christine, " and I begin to flatter 
myself that she will not die. I picture to myself 
that she wull be very happy in that case, and so shall 
I, for I should be inconsolable at her loss. Why 
cannot I be in her place ? Death is a good 
thing." 

But Johanna grew w^orse ; her sister-in-law goes 
on to tell of restless nights, delirium, burning fever, 
and all the sad course of the illness which so soon 
led to its fatal close. 

In many letters and papers of the Crown Princess 
melancholy but ardent longings for death are to be 
found, a mystical, dreamy gazing into the future 
mingling with prayers and communings with God 
and the unseen world. 

As the spring and summer of 1763 wore on she 
continually spoke to all around her of her approach- 
ing death, though her health was extremely good, 
always declaring that she should die at the end of 
the year. 

When one of her ladies remarked that she was 
forgetting that she would have to leave her child, 
she answered : 

'' Do you think, then, that I shall leave you my 
little Therese ? You will not have her more than 
six or seven years." 

In the autumn she left Laxenburg for Vienna, as 

she was expecting her second confinement. When 

he carriage reached the top of a hill from which 



MARIA THERESIA AND HER CHILDREN 37 

that city was to be seen, she looked towards it with 
a shudder, exclaiming ^^ Voila ma mort I " 

During the night of the i8th of November an 
alarum was heard to strike suddenly several times, 
as if out of order. The Crown Princess turned 
pale, and, on her ladies asking if she were ill, replied : 

^^ It is the summons. It calls me." ^ 

Nothing unusual happened next day until the 
evening when, as Isabella was standing in her room, 
she suddenly fell upon her knees. She was carried 
to bed, but that same fatal disease, the small-pox, 
declared itself ; she gave birth to a child which did 
not live, lingered a few days, and then died, to the 
despair of the Crown Prince and the rest of the 
imperial family. Among her papers was found the 
following : 

'^Quand done cette vie finira-t-elle avec sesmiseres, 
ses peines, et ses epreuves ? Quand done mon ame 
sera-t-elle delivree des liens qui I'attachent a la 
machine corporelle ? Quand lui sera-t-il permis de 
s'elancer vers les demeures eternelles ? " 

The Empress nursed the Crown Princess devotedly 
and mourned for her as if she had been her own 
child : but now as ever, reasons of state being her 
first consideration, she pressed the unwilling Crown 
Prince to agree to a new marriage, which he did 
with the greatest reluctance ; and it proved a most 
unhappy one. 

For even if Joseph's heart had not been entirely 
given to his first wife, the unlucky Princess Josepha 
of Bavaria, in all respects a contrast to her pre- 
decessor, was plain, dull, unattractive, regarded with 
' ** C'est U signal. II m'appelle." 



38 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

aversion by the Crown Prince and with coldness 
by the rest of the family, with the exception of the 
Emperor, who she used to say was her only 
friend.i 

In July, 1765, the Emperor and Empress, with 
their elder children — the Crown Prince, now King 
of the Romans, the Archduke Leopold, and the 
Archduchesses Marianne and Christine — attended by 
a splendid suite and a great number of nobles and 
courtiers, set out for Innsbruck to meet Leopold's 
bride, the Infanta Ludovica of Spain. 

Josepha, Queen of the Romans, and the younger 
Archdukes and Archduchesses were left at Schon- 
brunn. 

After getting into his carriage the Emperor sent 
for the little Archduchess Marie Antoinette, that he 
might kiss and wish her goodbye again. It was for 
the last time. The Emperor and his sons made a 
shooting excursion into Tyrol and then returned 
by Botzen to Innsbruck, where the wedding was 
celebrated with great pomp. 

A few days afterwards the Emperor was struck 
down by a sudden seizure and died at the age of 
fifty-seven, in the arms of his eldest son, who had 
been with him at the time of the fatal occurrence. 

The Empress, bowed down with grief at the loss 
of the husband whom she had loved from her child- 
hood with a deep, unchanging affection, and whose 
kindness of heart, good qualities, and attractions 
had made him universally popular, was at first so 
crushed by this sudden blow that she relegated the 
direction of affairs to the King of the Romans and 
* "Maria Theresiaund Kaiser Joseph II." (Berman). 



MARIA THERESIA AND HER CHILDREN 39 

gave herself up entirely to the indulgence of her 
grief. She even talked of retiring from the world 
and ending her days as Abbess of the newly founded 
convent of Salzburg. 

But these intentions did not last long. After all, 
Maria Theresia was only forty-eight ; the love of 
rule, the love of public life, and the interest in state 
affairs so deeply ingrained in her were too powerful 
not to resume their sway. And the Emperor 
Joseph, whom she had made co-regent of her 
Austrian estates, had begun at once to make all 
sorts of reforms and changes, many of which were 
salutary, but all unpopular. 

He forbade games of hazard, abolished various 
sinecures, changed and diminished the state and 
ceremonial of the court, suppressed most of the 
holidays, did away with the separate tables of his 
brothers and sisters declaring that in future there 
would only be the imperial tables of the Empress- 
mother and the Emperor, and made economies in 
all directions. 

The court and imperial family in consternation 
implored the Empress to resume the reins of 
government, which she very soon did, to such good 
effect that the Emperor Joseph found his authority 
and care reduced to the administration of the army. 



CHAPTER IV 

Grief of the Empress— She resumes the government — The Arch- 
duchess Josepha— Marriage of the Archduchess Christine — 
Her favourite daughter — The small-pox again — Death of the 
Empress Joseph — Recovery of the Empress-mother — Splendid 
preparations for the wedding of Josepha — In the Capucine 
church — A terrible calamity — Death of Josepha — Recovery of 
Elisabeth — The presentiment fulfilled. 

MARIA THERESIA lived sixteen years after 
the death of the Emperor Franz, but she 
never really recovered from his loss. Her love for her 
children was not less ; she was as much, perhaps 
even more, absorbed in the business of her govern- 
ment and still more assiduous in the affairs of 
reHgion ; but she was harder, sterner, more unbend- 
ing. She, however, allowed the marriage of her 
favourite daughter Christine with Albrecht of Saxe- 
Teschen, which took place 1766 ; and she continued 
to occupy herself with the establishment of her 
other children. 

The unfortunate wife of the Emperor Joseph died 
of small-pox, and he would not hear of marrying 
any more. Leopold, now Grand-duke of Tuscany, 
was married and Ferdinand engaged to Maria 
Beatrice of Modena ; there was still the question 

40 



MARIA THERESIA AND HER CHILDREN 41 

of finding an alliance for Elisabeth, who was two 
or three and twenty and, as before said, extremely 
handsome. Resolved that the crown of Naples 
should on no account be lost for one of the 
Archduchesses, the Empress substituted Josepha 
for the deceased Johanna, being the next in age and 
the most suitable for the young King of Naples, 
he being only two months her senior. 

Josepha was the favourite sister of the Emperor 
Joseph, who was extremely fond of her ; she 
was very pretty and a universal favourite ; Maria 
Theresia said of her that this daughter had never 
given her any trouble but only satisfaction, and 
that the only fault she could see in her was a 
slight tendency to obstinacy.^ She was twelve 
years old when her mother made her take the 
place of Johanna as the future Queen of Naples, 
which she did not wish to do, whether from any 
superstitious feeling about her sister, or from dread 
of the exile to a distant land, or from anything she 
might have heard of the character and habits of her 
future husband. 

For whatever was known about Ferdinand was 
certainly not in his favour ; and the Empress her- 
self, bent as she was upon this marriage, could not 
help feeling considerable misgivings regarding the 
future prospects of the young daughter she was 
sacrificing. 

She begged the Countess von Lerchenfeld not 
only to take the greatest possible care of her educa- 
tion, but to promise to accompany her to Naples 
when the time should come for her marriage ; to 
* Arneth, 



42 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

which last, however, she does not appear to have 
consented. 

^' It is not only a question," she wrote to her, 
*^ of the education of one of my daughters, but of 
one who in four years will be called upon to ascend 
a throne, and not only to rule a kingdom but to 
make her husband and herself happy or unhappy. 
It concerns her happiness, and, what is more, the 
welfare of her soul. She will have a young husband 
who from his earliest childhood has known no one 
higher than himself , . . who has always been 
surrounded by flatterers and Italians. . . . The court 
of Spain allows me to send one or two persons with 
my daughter. . . . And where shall I find them ? 
. . , My mother's heart is very uneasy. I look upon 
poor Josepha as a sacrifice to politics. If only she 
fulfils her duty to God and her husband and attends 
to the welfare of her soul, I shall be content even if 
she is not happy.^ 

^'The young King shows no taste for anything 
but hunting and the theatre ; he is unusually 
childish, learns nothing, and knows nothing except 
bad provincial Italian, and has on several occasions 
given proof of harshness and arbitrariness. He is 
accustomed to have his own way, and there is no 
one with him who can or will give him a good 
education. . . . They say he is fair, like the Saxon 
family. I wish he had their good heart. . . ." = 

» " Je regarde la pauvre Josephe comme un sacrifice de politique, 
pourveu qu'elle fasse son devoir envers Dieu et son epoux et qu'elle 
fasse son salut, dut-elle meme etre malheureuse je serois contente " 
(Arneth). Maria Theresia frequently wrote in French, but wrote 
both that language and German incorrectly. 

=» Arneth. 



MARIA THERESIA AND HER CHILDREN 43 

Many directions followed about the education 
and advice to be given to Josepha, with urgent 
entreaties to the Countess to go with her to Naples 
and look after her. 

The absence of her favourite daughter Christine 
was a severe trial to the Empress. 

Christine had suffered severely from the death of 
her beloved sister-in-law, Isabella of Parma, and an 
early fancy for Prince Ludwig of Wiirtemberg, 
which had ended in nothing, had also cast a 
shadow for a time over her usually high spirits. 
Her stronger, deeper love for Albrecht of Saxe- 
Teschen, opposed by her father and eldest brother, 
but in which she was supported by her mother, 
had terminated in an engagement to which at last 
her father had consented. After his death the 
wedding was celebrated (April, 1766) quietly 
because of the mourning for him. The Venetian, 
Polo Renier, writing of this event, says : 

^' The young Archduchess, who is endowed with 

more than ordinary beauty, vivacity, and esprity and 

with charming and gracious manners, appeared, 

covered with splendid diamonds . . . and caused 

many to envy her husband." ^ 

She departed with him to Presburg, where, as 

Governors of Hungary, they were to hold their 

court. 

In a letter to her immediately afterwards Maria 

Theresia says : 

' "... la giovane Arciduchessa, che trovasi fornita di non 
ordinaria bellezza, di vivacita, di spirito, di accosti e soave maniere 
si presento sovrabondantamente ornata di brillanti risplendentissimi 
. . . ed eccito in moltissimi una certa invidia verso lo sposo , . ." 
(Renier). 



44 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

^' . . . I believe I am quite well, but not tranquil. 
My heart has received a blow which it still feels, 
especially on such a day as this. In eight months 
I have lost the most adorable husband, a son 
who deserved all my love, and a daughter who 
after the loss of her father was my chief object, 
my consolation, my friend. I was childish enough 
this afternoon, when I heard your sisters pass 
through my room, to fancy for a moment that my 
Minai was with them : she was then occupied in 
doing the honours in her own home and rejoicing 
in the presence of her beloved husband, the result 
of all the cares that have occupied me for the last 
two years. I do not know how to thank God 
enough for having brought them to such a happy 
conclusion, and I hope from His grace and from 
you both the continuation of this happiness, which 
will become greater every day." 

Another time the Empress writes : 

^'C'est un plaisir de voir ces deux maries 
ensemble ; si je pouvais en gouter, souvent ils 
me font souvenir des miennes." ^ 

Such letters as these and those written by the 
Empress to Christine during the time of suspense 
while the Emperor would not consent to her 
engagement, telling her to have patience, trust in 
God, and all would be well, contrast with the 
sternness and hardness of some other occasions. 

Another year of calamity was 1767. In the 

spring Christine gave birth to a daughter, who 

only lived a few minutes and nearly cost the 

mother's life. The disappointment of the loss of 

* " Maria Theresia's letzte Regierungszeit " (Arneth). 



MARIA THE RES I A AND HER CHILDREN 45 

the infant was overpowered by the joy of the 
Empress at the restoration of the daughter whom 
she had so nearly lost. But Christine never had 
any more children. 

Before the Empress had recovered from the 
terror and anxiety of Christine's illness, the wife 
of Joseph was seized with small-pox. It was a 
different state of things indeed to the time when 
the whole imperial family and court watched 
with intense anxiety and grief the passing away 
of Isabella of Parma. 

The Empress went to see her daughter-in-law 
and with difficulty persuaded the Emperor Joseph 
to do the same, and carrying her idea of duty to 
an imprudent excess, she kissed her, though she 
saw quite well what was the nature of her illness, 
which was of a most malignant kind. 

She stayed with the Empress Joseph while she 
was bled, did all she could to comfort her, and 
then retired, giving orders that the Archdukes 
Ferdinand and Maximilian and the Archduchesses 
Elisabeth and Josepha, who had never had small- 
pox, should be kept out of the way of infection. 

For herself it was too late : the malady quickly 
declared itself, and in a few days the Empress 
Josepha was dead and the Empress-mother in the 
greatest danger. Grief and consternation spread 
through the city ; the churches were filled to over- 
flowing with crowds who flocked there to pray for 
the recovery of their beloved sovereign ; but on 
the 1st of June she asked for the last Sacraments, 
which were administered to her by the Cardinal 
Archbishop of Vienna in the presence of the 



46 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

Emperor Joseph and the Archduchesses Marianne 
and Amalie. 

However, a day or two later the Empress was 
slightly better, and before long she began with a 
trembling hand a letter, which was finished by her 
secretary, to Christine, who had been kept in 
ignorance of her mother's illness, telling her that 
she had had the small-pox but was now out of 
danger, that by her express orders the nature of 
the illness had been concealed from her, and that 
she forbade her to make herself uneasy or anxious 
about her, but she must thank God, as she was 
now getting well again. But the terrible malady 
had for ever destroyed the beauty which the 
Empress had until then preserved. 

Vienna was now filled with jubilation : Te Deums 
were sung and splendid services performed in the 
churches in thanksgiving for the recovery of the 
Empress ; fetes were given, and everywhere signs 
of rejoicing prevailed. Preparations were made 
on a magnificent scale for the marriage of the 
Archduchess Josepha to the King of Naples. 
Although she was the fifth daughter of Maria 
Theresia, she was the first whose approaching 
marriage appeared about to fulfil one of the 
ardent wishes of the Empress. 

Her trousseau was ordered w^ith unusual splen- 
dour : costly laces and stuffs of all descriptions were 
chosen, and the Princess Charlotte was commis- 
sioned to order a hundred costumes in Paris for 
her niece. These were shown publicly in Vienna, 
to the great discontent of the tradespeople there ; un- 
fortunately many of the stuffs, especially the velvets, 
had got damaged during the voyage. 



MARIA THERESIA AND HER CHILDREN 47 

The young Archduchess, now sixteen years old, 
resigned herself to the fate she could not avoid ; 
the formal demand in marriage was made by the 
Ambassador of Naples, and her governess, the 
Countess von Lerchenfeld, fastened the portrait 
of the King of Naples to her corsage in sign of 
betrothal. 

For the first time since the death of the Emperor 
Franz the Empress-mother appeared in public at 
the magnificent balls given in honour of her 
daughter's marriage ; the Emperor Joseph declared 
his intention of himself escorting his favourite 
sister to Naples, and in August accompanied her 
in her pilgrimage to the church of Maria Zell, 
according to the custom of the imperial family, 
late in the same month. 

In the vaults of the Capucine church at Vienna 
were buried the Emperor Franz and other members 
of the family, and into those gloomy depths on 
stated occasions Maria Theresia used to descend 
with her children to pray at the bier of her husband. 
She insisted upon Josepha's doing so for the last 
time before she left Vienna, although the young 
Archduchess was frightened at the thought of it 
and entreated her mother with tears not to force 
her to go there, as she felt a horror which she 
could not overcome. It was all of no avail ; the 
Empress would not listen, and her obstinate, cruel 
folly in this matter resulted in the death of one 
daughter and ruined the prospects of another. 

Josepha burst into tears as she got into the 
carriage and shuddered all the time the gloomy 
function was going on in the vault, in which was 



48 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

also the bier of the Empress Joseph, who had 
died four months before of virulent small-pox. 

Soon after she returned to the palace the young 
Archduchess complained of feeling ill, went to bed, 
and very soon the small-pox declared itself. 

The Emperor Joseph, distracted with grief, never 
left her bedside ; the gentle young girl whom every 
one loved felt she was dying, asked him for the last 
Sacraments, and passed away patient and resigned, 
as she had been to the marriage she dreaded. She 
died in his arms on the 15th of October, 1767, the 
very day on which they were to have started for 
Italy. I 

This terrible event shocked and startled the 
public. Josepha's illness and death were generally 
attributed to her enforced visit to the vault of the 
Capucins, and amidst the universal chorus of alarm 
and disapproval were heard indignant murmurs 
against the continued obstinacy of the Empress, 
who persisted in her foolish, fatal confidence in her 
favourite doctor, Van Swieeten, from whose de- 
plorable system of treatment it seems astonishing 
that any one could recover. 

The constant bleeding and other stupid, dangerous 
practices in which Van Swieeten persisted, in spite 
of the general outcry, were of course fatal to the 

* This story is told by Vehse, Berman, and other historians. 
Arneth, in his volume on " Maria Theresia's letzte Regierungszeit," 
merely states that Josepha paid this visit to the vault according to 
the pious custom of the imperial house, that she was accompanied 
by the Emperor Joseph, shortly before the time fixed for her depar- 
ture, was seized by the small-pox on the 4th of October, and died 
on the 15th of October. The rest of the story, of her terror and the 
obstinate harshness of the Empress, he neither affirms nor denies. 



MARTA THERESIA AND HER CHILDREN 49 

delicate girl of sixteen, but when four days after her 
death the Archduchess Elisabeth was also seized 
with the same malady, she also was, by the fatuity 
of her mother, placed under his care. The Emperor 
Joseph was furious, and swore that he would never 
see Van Swieeten again. 

Elisabeth, however, was four-and-twenty and 
much stronger than her sister ; therefore, wonder- 
ful to relate, she survived the treatment, but of her 
surpassing beauty there remained no trace. Had it 
not been for this disfigurement she might very 
possibly have become Queen of France ; as it was, 
no marriage was found for her, much to her dis- 
appointment. Elisabeth, who was always very 
anxious to marry, was certainly unlucky in having 
no husband found for her. Every proposed match 
had failed. The Empress, writing of her to Chris- 
tine, observes : 

^' Quelques minutes apres elle commenga a sang- 
loter . . . que tons etoient etablies et elle seule 
etoit delaissee et destin^e de rester seule avec 
TEmpereur, c'est (ce) qu'elle ne faira (ferait) jamais. 
Nous avions toutes les peines a la faire taire." 

The grief of the Emperor for the loss of the 
sister he loved best excited general sympathy and 
attention, the despair into which the loss of his 
first wife had plunged him having been supposed to 
have deprived him of the capacity to feel so much 
affection for any one else. But he was certainly 
especially unfortunate, for the one other person 
whom he loved so much that he called her his 
second self, his only child, died, as her mother had 
foretold, in the following year. 

5 



50 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

The little Archduchess Theresia returned her 
father's devotion ; she loved him passionately, and 
in her last illness would take no food or medicine 
but from his hand. After the last terrible cata- 
strophe caused by the small-pox the Empress, 
terrified lest she should lose any more of her 
children, consented to the inoculation of the rest 
of the imperial family. 



PART II 
MARIA CAROLINA 



CHAPTER V 

Carolina and Antoinette — "You are fifteen years old" — Mother 
and daughter — Carolina or Amalie ? — The choice of the King 
of Naples — Unwillingness of Carolina — The Empress insists — 
Amalie and the Duke of Parma — The Countess von Lerchenfeld 
— " Love your husband," 

^' /^^F all niy daughters," wrote the Empress to 

V^y Countess von Enzenberg, alluding to the 
Archduchess Carolina, '* she is the one who 
resembles me the most." 

And she seems to have loved her even more than 
her other daughters after Christine, to whom she 
wrote some years later of the Queen of Naples : 
^* Vous savez combien m'est a coeur votre soeur et 
je lui dois cette justice, qu'apres vous c'est elle qui 
m'a tou jours marque le plus d'attachement reel et a 
suivre et souhaiter mes conseils."^ 

Not that Carolina was by any means a gentle, 
submissive, sweet-tempered girl like Josepha ; no, 
she was hasty, impetuous, and thoughtless, as 
appears from certain letters written by her mother 
at this time. 

She and her younger sister Antoinette, to whom 

• "You know how near to my heart your sister is, and I owe her 
this justice, that after you she is the one who has always shown 
me the most real affection and desired and followed my advice." 

53 



54 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

she was devoted, had been hitherto under the care 
of Countess Marie von Brandis, with whom Carolina 
does not seem to have got on very well. At any 
rate, when it was decided that Josepha's marriage 
should take place, Carolina entreated her mother to 
let her have the Countess von Lerchenfeld for her 
governess instead, after Josepha was gone. The 
Empress appears to have been of opinion that 
Carolina and Antoinette had got into idle, careless 
ways, that they talked nonsense together, and that 
Carolina, at any rate, was too childish for her age. 
She therefore decided to separate these two — to 
place Carolina under the care of Countess von 
Lerchenfeld, who was very superior to what she 
called "the Brandis" ; and she wrote a long letter of 
reproof and warning to Carolina, who, now that 
Josepha was to be married, would take her place 
and be considered grown up, though she was only 
just fifteen. 

" You w^ish so much to be separated from ^ the 
Brandis,' and beg so hard to be entrusted to Frau 
von Lerchenfeld," she writes to her on August 19, 
1767, " that I will only hope and believe that it is 
from esteem for the latter, who has been so success- 
ful in the education of your sisters. I do not 
intend to treat you as a child. You are fifteen 
years old, and if you make proper use of the talents 
with which God has so richly endowed you, and 
follow the good advice which is required by every- 
body of whatever age, you will earn the approbation 
of your family and of the public. ... To my great 
astonishment I hear, not only from ^ the Brandis,' 
but from your other women and even from 



MARIA CAROLINA 55 

strangers, that you say your prayers very carelessly, 
without reverence, without attention, and, still 
more, without fervour. Do not be surprised if, 
after such a beginning of the day, nothing goes 
well. Even if representations are made to you 
they only cause rough words and ill-temper. 
Besides this, you have lately got into the habit of 
treating your ladies in a manner which (and this 
also I know from strangers) has brought great 
discredit upon you. While dressing you are just 
as ill-humoured ; on this point there is neither 
forgetfulness nor the least excuse. You must treat 
your ladies with gentleness, or else you will never 
be esteemed, much less loved by them ; and it is 
only a bad habit which has led you into this fault. 
Your voice and manner of speaking are also dis- 
pleasing. You must take more trouble than others 
to amend this, and be careful not to raise your 
voice too much. You must work diligently at 
your music, drawing, history, geography, Latin, 
and other studies. Never be idle, for idleness is 
dangerous for every one, and especially for you, 
whose head must always be occupied to keep you 
from playing childish tricks, making improper 
observations, and longing for unsuitable and 
unreasonable amusements. As I shall now treat 
you as a grown-up person, I tell you you will 
be entirely separated from your sister. I forbid 
you all secrets, confidences and conversations with 
her ; if the little one tries to begin again you have 
only to pay no attention or to tell ^the Lerchenfeld' 
or your ladies. All this mischief-making will then 
be put an end to at once ; for all these secret 



56 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

confidences consist of nothing but speaking against 
your neighbour, your family, or your ladies. 
I warn you that you will be strictly watched, 
and I look to you as the elder, and conse- 
quently the most reasonable, to influence your 
sister. Avoid all discourses and secrets as you go 
to church, at table, or at home. Attach yourself to 
your sister Amalie, leave off the childish curiosity 
which annoys everybody, attend to your own 
business instead of other people's. . . . Next year 
you will be as old as your sister Josepha is now 
. . . you take rank after Amalie. ... I was pleased 
with your behaviour at Laxenburg ; you said very 
little, which did not signify. I hope you did the 
same in your own room. If you will take my 
advice, which comes from my heart, filled with 
love for my children and only occupied with their 
happiness so far as it can be attained in this world, 
you will be convinced that the only path to follow 
is that of virtue. With God's help one can do 
much, but in order to gain it one must lead an 
innocent life. . . . You will see how much sweeter 
and more lasting are inward peace and happiness 
than all the tumultuous pleasures of this world, 
which only weary one and leave a terrible void 
behind them. Above all, rely on my help and 
love; they will only end with my life."^ 

Only a few weeks after this letter was written 
came the dreadful catastrophe of Josepha's death, by 
which the future of Carolina was entirely changed. 
For the grief and shock of this calamity did not 
cause the Empress to lose sight for a moment of 

^ Arneth. 



MARIA CAROLINA 57 

that project of alliance with the house of Bourbon 
which she considered of supreme importance. 

Immediately after the death of the Archduchess 
Josepha, she directed Count Franz CoUoredo, 
Austrian Ambassador at Madrid, while carefully 
avoiding taking the first step in the affair, to 
contrive secretly that a third Archduchess should 
take the place of her two sisters. 

There was no difficulty about this : the King of 
Spain, equally anxious for the alliance, directly he 
heard of Josepha's death, wrote to the Empress 
proposing that another of her daughters should 
become Queen of Naples, but not specifying any 
one of them. 

As it happened, it would have suited Maria 
Theresia better at this moment to betroth Amalie 
to the young King, for she had it in her mind to 
marry one of the Archduchesses to him and 
another to the Duke of Parma, and, as the latter 
was even younger than the former, it appeared to 
her more suitable to give the elder of her daughters 
to the elder of the two deplorable boys she had 
chosen for their husbands. The difference in their 
age was certainly slight, but the accounts she heard 
of Ferdinando of Naples made the Empress very 
uneasy, and although the possibility of giving up 
the alliance never entered her mind, she thought 
that Amalie, who was five years older than 
Ferdinand, might be able to influence him and to 
hold her own in what was evidently to be a difficult 
and dangerous position, better than Carolina, a 
thoughtless, impetuous child, still in the hands of 
her governess. 



58 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

The imr^ense importance in former times 
attached to these aUiances, more than the personal 
ambition of the Empress, must be taken into 
account when one considers what it really meant. 
A child whom she had brought up as strictly as a 
nun, whom she had just been lecturing about 
saying her prayers, attending to her lessons, obey- 
ing her governess, and not playing tricks with her 
little sister, was to be sent to rule without restraint 
or protection over a licentious southern court, as 
the wife of a vicious, uneducated boy of low tastes 
and uncontrolled passions, whose conversation, 
ideas, and habits must be equally astonishing and 
shocking to her. 

Not that anything would have made these 
marriages tolerable to either of them. 

A much more suitable husband was proposed for 
Amalie, namely, Carl von Zweibriicken, cousin and 
heir-presumptive of the Elector of Bavaria and the 
Elector Palatine, the former of whom asked for the 
hand of the Archduchess Amalie and made pro- 
posals concerning their establishment. Prince 
Carl spent some time at the court of Vienna, and 
as he was good-looking, intelligent, and about the 
same age as the Archduchess, she was anxious to 
accept him. Maria Theresia, instigated by Kaunitz, 
refused her consent, signifying that, his prospects 
being uncertain, he was not a sufficiently great 
personage to become her son-in-law. Carl left 
Vienna in disgust, and was ever afterwards the 
bitter enemy of Maria Theresia and Joseph II. 

The Archduchess Amalie was sacrificed, like her 
sisters, and it was all the more unfortunate as the 




Carlos III., King of Spain. 

After a painting by Mengs. 



face p. 58. 



MARIA CAROLINA 59 

Empress and Kaunitz proved to have been quite 
wrong in their calculations. Carl succeeded to the 
inheritance upon which Kaunitz declared it was 
ridiculous to reckon, and Amalie might have been 
not only a powerful princess but a happy woman 
had it not been for this mistake.^ 

The Empress replied to the King of Spain's letter, 
offering him the choice of either Amalie or Carolina : 

^' Comme je n'ai certainement pas moins d'em- 
pressement a unir ma maison a celle de V.M. que 
celui qu'Elle veut bien me temoigner, je Lui accorde 
avec bien du plaisir une des filles qui me restent, 
pour reparer la perte de celle que nous regrettons. 
]'en ai actuellement deux qui peuvent convenir ; 
I'une est TArchiduchesse Amelie, que Ton trouve 
bien de figure et qui est d'une sante a annoncer, a 
ce qu'il semble, une nombreuse succession, et 
I'autre est TArchiduchesse Charlotte,^ qui est aussi 
d'une tres bonne sante et d'environ un an et sept 
mois plus jeune que le Roi de Naples. Je laisse a 
V.M. la Hberte de choisir. . . ."3 

* Arneth. 

Kaunitz said that considering the age of the two Electors, it 
was absurd to reckon upon their never having male heirs, and that 
consequently the proposal v^as almost ridiculous enough to be an 
offence. 

=* Charlotte was one of the names of the Archduchess. 

3 '* As I certainly have no less anxiety to ally my house to that of 
your Majesty than that which your Majesty is good enough to 
display to me, I grant with great pleasure one of the daughters 
remaining to me to repair the loss of her we regret. I have now 
two who might be suitable, the Archduchess Amalie, who is con- 
sidered pretty, and whose health appears to promise a numerous 
succession ; the other is the Archduchess Charlotte, who has also 
very good health and is about a year and seven months younger 
than the King of Naples. I leave your Majesty at liberty to choose.'. 



6o A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

To the King of Spain it was indifferent which of 
the Archduchesses his son married, but the King 
of Naples did not at all like the idea of a wife five 
years older than himself, and urgently entreated his 
father, who consulted him on the subject, to choose 
Carolina. 

The King accordingly wrote to Maria Theresia, 
with many complimentary phrases, saying that 
although he would be deeply grateful for which- 
ever of her daughters she chose to give him, still, 
as the Archduchess Amalie was five years older 
than his son, and as the King of Naples had 
expressed the strongest desire that Carolina and 
no other should become his wife, he would, since 
the Empress gave him the choice, decide upon the 
latter. 

Carolina was no better pleased than Josepha had 
been when she was told she was to marry the King 
of Naples. The fate of both the sisters whose place 
she was called upon to fill might well make the 
young girl shrink with an almost superstitious 
dread from the ill-omened engagement. 

She remonstrated, cried, entreated, alluded to the 
deaths of her sisters, and declared that ill-luck 
followed the Neapolitan betrothals. ^ 

And she had heard quite enough about 
Ferdinand to make her dislike the prospect of 
him as a husband. 

But it was all of no avail. The Empress and 
Kaunitz had resolved upon the sacrifice of the two 
Archduchesses to secure the alliance of Naples and 
Parma, and they were both obliged to submit. 

' Berman. 



MARIA CAROLINA 6i 

Amalie was even worse off than Carolina, for 
although the accounts received at Vienna of the 
young Duke of Parma were much better than what 
was reported of the King of Naples, it was not at all 
likely that a young woman of three-and-twenty 
would wish to marry a boy of seventeen ; her rank 
as Duchess of Parma was much below that of her 
younger sister, the Queen of Naples ; while as to 
their future homes there could be no comparison. 
Let anyone who knows them compare the little 
capital of Parma, in the midst of the wide, hot plain 
stretching away towards the Alps and the Apennines, 
with the great city of Naples, its blue sea and 
enchanting scenery, of which the old proverb says 
*^ See Naples — and die."^ 

Besides which, the Duke of Parma proved quite 
different from the cultivated, well-educated youth 
described to the Empress and her daughter, and 
when once he was set free from his studies and 
married, he turned out to be a remarkably stupid, 
idle boy, who, like his cousin of Naples, was fond of 
low company, and delighted to amuse himself by 
roasting chestnuts and winding up clocks. 

Amalie, a dull, cold, apathetic girl, the least loved 
of all the children of the Empress, was both 
unhappy and unpopular at Parma, and did not 
get on with her husband nearly so well as Carolina 
did with Ferdinand of Naples. There were con- 
stant quarrels, and she does not seem to have had 
either the tact, charm, or sense by which she 

* The Bishop of Parma said of that climate that they had *' nove 
mesi d' inverno e tre d' inferno" (Autobiography^ of Cornelia 
Knight). 



62 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

might have succeeded in gaining influence and 
consideration. 

Her wedding did not take place till 1769, the year 
after that of Carolina, who, when soon after the 
death of Josepha her marriage was arranged, was 
allowed to wait for its celebration until the 
following year, 1768, and was meanwhile placed, 
as she wished, under the care of the Countess von 
Lerchenfeld. 

That lady, who had spent three years in educating 
Josepha to occupy the throne of Naples, now did 
her best to prepare Carolina, in the nine months 
allowed her, for the same exalted position. 

That, short as the time was, she knew how to 
acquire before it was over the deepest affection 
and respect from her wilful, thoughtless, but warm- 
hearted pupil, and to gain a strong influence over 
her, proves the wisdom of the Empress in her 
choice. She herself endeavoured by advice and 
all other means in her power to strengthen and 
prepare the young girl for the trials, dangers, 
and temptations of the life upon which she was 
so soon to enter. 

*' Never have I undertaken anything," she writes, 
*^ which has so deeply interested and occupied 
me, and given me, at the same time, so much con- 
sideration and so much pleasure as the efforts 
which I am now making to prepare you satis- 
factorily for your future position," and she goes 
on to give her most excellent advice on all kinds 
of subjects — her duties as a queen and as a wife, 
as daughter-in-law of the King of Spain, as the 
ruler of the court, &c. ^^ Avoid coquetry," she 



MARIA CAROLINA 63 

continues ; " you have always seen it despised here. 
Remember that many things which are harmless 
in a girl are not so in a married woman, although 
contemptible in either. . . . Love your husband 
and be firmly attached to him ; that Is the only 
true happiness on earth." 

Yes ; Maria Theresia's advice was always ex- 
cellent, but it had this drawback : she required of 
her daughters more than was possible to any human 
being. She forced them to marry vicious, un- 
attractive, or stupid boys — perhaps, as in the case of 
Amalie, years younger than themselves — whom 
they did not want to marry, and then told them 
to love their husbands. What could be a greater 
mockery ? 

And she could by no means point to her own 
career as an example, or to the happiness of 
Christine with Albrecht of Saxe-Teschen. It was 
easy enough for her to love Francois de Lorraine, 
one of the handsomest and most fascinating 
men of the day, and for Christine to be devoted 
to Albrecht of Saxe-Teschen, a brilliant soldier and 
a man of high character and remarkable attrac- 
tions ; but to desire Amalie to love the Infant of 
Parma was preposterous, and as to Ferdinand of 
Naples, the only wonder was that he and Carolina 
should have got on as well as they did. 

With the exception of Christine, Maria Carolina 
was certainly more than all the daughters of the 
Empress a born ruler, and of this her mother was 
well aware. 

In that extremely interesting and instructive book, 
*' The Queen of Naples and Lord Nelson," occurs 



64 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

the following passage : ^ '^ Few persons were better 
qualified to bear testimony to the resemblance of 
the two sisters 2 and to the intellectual superiority 
of the Queen of Naples than the Marchioness 
Solari, who, as the confidential and devoted 
servant of the French Queen, cannot have come 
to Maria Carolina's presence for the first time 
with any predisposition to find her superior to 
Marie Antoinette. Speaking of her Majesty of 
Naples as one who in her figure and countenance 
bore so strong a resemblance to her murdered 
sister, the Marchioness exhibits the mental and 
moral difference between the two Princesses in these 
words : ' For this Princess ' (i.e., Maria Carolina) 
^ really possessed a masculine understanding, with 
great natural and acquired powers of mind, scarcely 
inferior to those enjoyed by the profoundest 
statesman. She had a cool head in council, was 
capable of forming a just conception of things in 
general, and had acquired a knowledge of men and 
manners far exceeding that of her unfortunate 
sister, Marie Antoinette of France ; who, though 
she had a greater portion of the milk of human 
kindness in her composition than Carolina, possessed 
a capacity by no means capable of executing any 
plan that required firmness or perseverance. She 
nevertheless had a large share of natural good 
sense.' " 

Yet Maria Theresia undoubtedly loved her 
children deeply, and had a thorough comprehension 

» " The Queen of Naples and Lord Nelson " (John Cordy 
Jeaffreson). 

2 Maria Carolina and Marie Antoinette. 



MARIA CAROLINA 65 

of the character of each of them. Knowing that 
Carohna was intensely German in tastes and 
affections, that she loved the grey skies, green 
meadows, and deep woods of her native land, and 
that Italy had no attraction for her, she wrote : 

^* Do not be always talking about our country, or 
drawing comparisons between our customs and 
theirs. There is good and bad to be found in 
every country. ... In your heart and in the 
uprightness of your mind be a German ; in all that 
is unimportant, though in nothing that is wrong, 
you must appear to be Neapolitan." 

Carefully she explained to the young girl that 
even if she found it impossible to love her husband, 
she must on no account allow him to perceive it, 
but must act always as if she were passionately 
in love with him. Taking into consideration the 
character and education of Ferdinando, it was 
evident that if affairs were to go on with even 
tolerable prosperity, Carolina must not only rule 
him but rule the kingdom ; and the great Empress 
remembered her own past, considered her young 
daughter's capacity, and felt that she could do both. 



CHAPTER VI 

Marriage of Carolina to the King of Naples — Her journey — The 
Grand-duke of Tuscany — Arrival at Naples — Unhappiness of 
Carolina — Letters of Leopold to his mother — Of Carolina to 
her governess— Becomes reconciled to her lot — Her influence 
over the King — "My wife knows everything" — Fete at Naples 
— Visit of the Emperor Joseph — The King of Naples and the 
Duke of Parma. 

ON the 17th of April, 1768, Carolina was married 
by proxy at the Church of the Augustines at 
Vienna, the King of Naples being represented by 
her brother Ferdinand. 

Immediately after her return from the church she 
put on her travelling dress of blue and gold, and 
then came the bitter parting from home, country, 
mother, brothers and sisters and friends, to go for 
ever into a foreign land, to a strange, perhaps 
a bad husband, with very little prospect of seeing 
most of those dearest to her again. One can 
scarcely realise how terrible all this must have been 
in those days of difficult travelling and communica- 
tion, especially to a young, warm-hearted girl, and 
the prospect of being separated from her German 
suite made things seem worse. 

She was still by no means reconciled to her 

66 




Joseph II., Emperor of Germany, and Leopold, Grand Dike ok Tuscany, 

AFTERWARDS EmPEROR, 1782. 



To face p. 66. 



MARIA CAROLINA 67 

marriage, but declared that '^they might as well 
have thrown her into the sea." ^ 

The Emperor Joseph would not go with her, as 
he had intended to do with his beloved Josepha, 
only promising to pay her a visit the following year. 
The Empress, therefore, wrote to the Grand-duke 
of Tuscany, who willingly consented to accompany 
his sister, and it was arranged that she should be 
sent to him, under a suitable escort, to Florence. 
The Countess Renate Trauttmansdorff, sister of 
Countess Lerchenfeld, and of whom Carolina was 
very fond, accompanied her on her journey. 

With a heavy heart she travelled, by the order 
of the Empress, through the magnificent Pusterthal 
and over the Brenner pass to Innsbruck, to visit 
the room in which her father died before leaving 
her beloved Austria. Like her sister Antoinette 
some time afterwards, she grew more and more 
depressed and unhappy as she came to the last 
resting-place in their mother's dominions. 2 

At Florence she was received with the greatest 
kindness by her favourite brother Leopold and his 
Spanish wife, both of whom prepared to conduct 
her to her new kingdom. 

Leopold was not at all like his elder brother, but 
resembled his father, Fran9ois of Lorraine, in his 
easy-going, kindly nature and fondness for pleasure, 
magnificence, and women's society. He was 
much pleasanter than Joseph, and Maria Carolina 
had all her life a great affection for him. 

' " Correspondance inedite de Marie Antoinette " (A. Paul 
Vogtd'Hunolstein). 
=• Ibid. 



68 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

From Florence she wrote to Frau von Lerchen- 
feld that although the city was wonderfully 
beautiful and the palaces splendid, ^' I remain true 
to my dear Vienna. Things are more beautiful 
here than there, but for me they have not the charm 
and strong attraction of Vienna." 

It is very unfortunate that the letters of Carolina 
to her mother have been lost ; she wrote home 
constantly during her journey. 

In her first letter to Frau von Lerchenfeld, 
written from Innsbruck on the 17th of April, she 
says : 

*' Write to me the smallest details of my sister 
Antoinette, what she says, what she does, and 
almost what she thinks. I beg and entreat you 
to love her very much, for I am terribly interested 
for her. All the kindness you show her will be 
done for me. Believe me, you will work on 
a ground that will do you credit and increase 
and augment the reputation you already have. 
Write to me all the ceremony of the ilbergab ^ — in 
which room, what my dear mother, you, she, and 
the Brandis said." 

That the Grand-duke, her brother, was exceed- 
ingly kind and sympathetic may be gathered from 
the letters he wrote about his young sister to their 
mother. 

On the 29th of April, 1768 — Florence — he 
writes : 

^^ The disposition of the Queen is excellent ; she 
has a good heart, she willingly accepts advice, being 

* Probably the resignation of •' the Brandis " in favour of Countess 
von Lerchenfeld. 



MARIA CAROLINA 69 

anxious to do right, but she is impetuous, a little 
hasty and thoughtless, and has as yet too little 
experience of the world." 

She was not allowed much time in Florence, but 
the cavalcade set off on the 3rd of May, and travelled 
by Siena and Ronciglione to Rome, where Carolina 
does not appear to have seen much except 
St. Peter's. Rome, however, excited her deepest 
interest, and from Marino she wrote to Frau von 
Lerchenfeld that she envied those who could stay 
there and have leisure to enjoy it, for it seemed to 
her so delightful. 

" I am well," she continued ; '' but my heart is 
sad, for I am so near the place of my destination. 
In three days we shall be at Terracina, where the 
separation will take place, and from there it is only 
nineteen or twenty hours to Caserta. More than 
ever I long to go back to my fatherland, and see my 
family and my dear countrymen again. Please tell 
my sister that I love her dearly." 

At the same time the Grand-duke wrote to his 
mother that the nearer the day of the meeting 
approached, the more uneasy his sister became ; 
she could not get over the fear that her husband 
might not be pleased with her and that she might 
consequently be unhappy. 

^^ She is often so agitated that she scarcely knows 
what she says. She is dreadfully impatient and 
quick tempered, but it is over directly. She 
means to do all we tell her, but advice which she 
thinks like tutelage irritates her. Her behaviour in 
public, except a little childishness, is good ; and 
everything depends upon the hands into which 



70 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

she falls. She is extremely young, and if I may 
say so, has not been educated to be Queen of 
Naples. She was never intended for it, and her 
bringing up was not by any means of the best. 
Frau von Brandis with her roughness irritated her 
excitable temperament, and she could not bear 
her ; besides which she neither gave nor knew 
how to give her the instruction necessary for her 
entrance into the world. I can assure you that the 
Queen sees all this herself, and if only she could 
have remained a year longer with Frau von Lerch- 
enfeld the difference would soon have been 
apparent." 

They arrived on the 12th of May at Terracina, the 
frontier town of the kingdom of Naples, and with 
intense concern and sympathy Leopold perceived 
that his sister was seized with such a violent fit of 
trembling that he feared she would faint, and she 
seemed broken-hearted at parting from her German 
suite, especially the Countess Renate Trauttmans- 
dorff. 

The ceremony took place that same day, and both 
Leopold and Carolina were deeply affected. The 
Queen spoke with such kindness and affection to 
her departing attendants that everybody was in 
tears. 

During their drive from Terracina to Poztella, 
the first entirely Neapolitan town, where the King 
was to meet them, Leopold tried to encourage and 
comfort his trembling sister. 

The King awaited them there, and her first im- 
pressions with regard to his appearance were not 
favourable. 



MARIA CAROLINA 71 

" He is very ugly/' ^ she wrote soon afterwards to 
Frau von Lerchenfeld, '^ but one gets used to that ; 
and as to his character, it is all much better than I 
was told. . . . What irritates me most is that he 
thinks he is handsome and clever, and he is neither 
the one nor the other. I must tell you and confess 
that I don't love him except from duty, but I do all 
I can to make him think I have a passion for him. 
I conduct myself with great patience and gentleness. 
He says that he loves me very much, but he will not 
do anything I want." 

The marriage took place at Caserta the following 
day. May 13th. 

With unusual tact and resolution, Carolina set 
herself to win the affection of this spoilt, untrained 
lad, her husband ; but the Grand-duke wrote 
anxiously about her to his mother, saying that she 
was depressed and unhappy, hated her new life, and 
that he feared her health would suffer. 

^' By all the riches in the world," she writes to 
Frau von Lerchenfeld, ^^ I could not repay the good 
and excellent service you have done me, for what 
little success I have here I owe to you, and I envy 
my sister Antoinette, who, being longer under your 
care, will become more perfect. ... I have always 
had great and especial love for her, and when I 
reflect that her fate will, perhaps, be like mine, I 
wish I could write volumes to her about it, and I 
desire greatly that she may have some one with her 
like me at the beginning, otherwise I frankly own 

* Ferdinando was tall, slight, and his face would have been 
handsome, but was spoilt by his large, hooked nose, an exaggera- 
tion of that of the Bourbon family (Jeaffreson). 



72 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

that it is desperation, and that one suffers a 
martyrdom which is all the worse because one has 
to appear always pleased. I know what it is, and I 
pity deeply those who still have to make the begin- 
ning. For my part, I tell you plainly that I would 
rather die than suffer what I suffered at first. Now 
it is all right ; therefore I can say, and it is no 
exaggeration, if Religion had not said to me, ' Think 
of God,' I should have killed myself, and that to live 
a week seemed to me like hell, and I wanted to die. 
I am sure that if once my sister came during the 
first days of her arrival I should shed many tears, 
picturing to myself what she would suffer." 

This rather confused but pathetic letter was 
written a few weeks after her marriage (August 
13th). 

In another letter to the same person, in August, 
she refers to the arrival of a German lad with some 
dogs sent by the Emperor to her husband. 

^* C'etait plaisant a voir comme moi, la maison de 
Kauniz, mes femes et nous tous AUemands se sont 
empresse a faire tous les honneurs possibles a ce 
gar9on que I'Empereur a envoye avec les chiens, le 
nom d'allemand suffit et c'est une des plus grandes 
recomendations ils le meritent bien et on reconait 
seulment bien la droiture de leurs caracteres quand 
on et dans un autre pays/'^ 

Again the simple letter, with all its faults of com- 
position and spelling, gives one a glimpse of the 
home-sick girl, half child, half woman, longing for 
her mother, her governess, and her little sister, yet 
knowing so well how to charm and fascinate her 
' Arneth. 



MARIA CAROLINA 73 

strange, unsympathetic husband that he became 
more and more in love with her, and very soon was 
her slave, to the dismay of the hitherto all-powerful 
Tanucci, who had ruled the King and kingdom with 
an absolute power which he now perceived to be 
seriously threatened. 

And Carolina herself, as time went on, became 
gradually reconciled to her life. There were no 
more complaints of her husband, over whom her 
influence was now unbounded ; her youth, vigorous 
health, and elastic spirits gradually overcame her 
depression and sadness, and though her love for 
Austria remained unchanged, her sentiments 
towards Ferdinando had so altered that, in a letter 
to Frau von Lerchenfeld written in the February 
following her marriage, she says, though acknow- 
ledging the surpassing loveliness of her new home : 
" I assure you, my dear aja,i that for my own 
taste, and if I could be with the King, I would leave 
this beautiful paradise and all its inhabitants and be 
contented to live at Hernals, and that would please 
me more than all the beauty here, for I love 
passionately my dear country and my good country- 
men, and I have so strongly inspired my dear 
husband with the same taste that he has a great 
desire to go there, and if it only depended on him 
we should be there already." 

Ferdinando IV. was the third son of Carlos III., 
King of Spain. When the latter succeeded his 
brother 2 upon the Spanish throne, he transferred 

' " Aja," the Spanish name used by the family of Maria Theresia 
for '* governess." 
= Ferdinand VI., eldest son of Philippe V. 



74 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

the kingdom of Naples and Sicily to Ferdinando, 
then nine years old, leaving the government in the 
hands of a council of eight persons and the Marquis 
Tanucci Prime Minister. ^ 

The then ^^ajo," or governor, of the young King 
was the Principe di San Nicandro. 

Over the Spanish Bourbons, the descendants of 
Philippe V.,2 hung that curse of hereditary insanity 
which had always been the dread and horror of 
Carlos III. 

His father and his eldest son had both been victims 
to melancholy, insanity, or idiotcy, and the King of 
Spain, anxious above all things to preserve his other 
sons from the same fate, directed that Ferdinando 
should be kept from any sedentary or serious 
occupation and lead an entirely outdoor life. 

Tanucci and Nicandro, anxious to keep all power 
and authority in their own hands, purposely 
exaggerated what, if reasonably carried out, would 
have been a wise precaution, and the results were as 
deplorable as could be expected. 

Physically, the plan was entirely successful. 
Ferdinando grew up strong, healthy, and active, an 
ardent sportsman, but an execrable king. 

He had been brought up in the grossest ignorance, 
knew scarcely anything of any foreign tongue, and 
could not even speak decent Italian ; the jargon of 
the lazzaroni was what he used both in his conver- 
sation and his letters to his father, which were filled 
with nothing but slang and sporting news. 

* Palombo. 

» Carlos or Charles III. of Spain, second son of Philippe V., who 
was grandson of Louis XIV. Philippe was subject to melancholia. 



MARIA CAROLINA 75 

Hunting, shooting, and fishing were the occupa- 
tions by which his whole time was wasted when it 
was not spent in a still more deplorable manner 
among low companions or in contemptible amuse- 
ments. He would dress up as an innkeeper in a 
country inn, making all his courtiers wear the same 
kind of disguises, and he and they would amuse 
themselves by selling wine to customers. 

When he heard of the death of the Archduchess 
Josepha his chief regret was that he could not, for 
a day or two, go on with his usual games and sports. 
His courtiers could find nothing to amuse him until 
one of them thought of acting the funeral of the 
deceased Archduchess. A girlish-looking boy was 
chosen to take the part of the Archduchess, his 
face being marked with chocolate to represent the 
small-pox ; he was dressed in funeral robes, laid on 
an open bier, and carried in procession all through 
the state apartments in the palace of Portici, the 
King following as chief mourner.^ 

An insatiable delight in practical jokes was a 
characteristic of Ferdinando, and these jokes had 
sometimes disastrous consequences, as in the case of 
the Florentine Abbate Mazzinghi, whom he caused 
to be tossed in a blanket by some of his rough 
companions, and who, though unhurt by the 
process, was so scandalised and indignant at such 
an insult and by not being able to obtain the 
punishment of its perpetrators that he retired to 
Rome and died a few months afterwards owing 

* Helfert, however, casts doubt upon this story, which he con- 
siders to be most probably one of the many inventions or exaggera- 
tions of the pohtical enemies of the King and Queen of Naples. 



76 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

to the manner in which it preyed upon his 
mind. 

Much better subjects for the King's amusements 
were his beloved lazzaroni, who Hked him none the 
worse for them. One day, as he loitered about the 
Chiaja, he saw a tall, strong-looking, very ragged 
and extremely dirty beggar, whom he suddenly 
seized by the legs, swung round, and flung into the 
sea. Then, seeing from his struggles that the lad 
could not swim, he jumped into the water after him 
and brought him safely to shore. 

Ferdinando was kind to the poor, had various 
good qualities, and if he had been brought up 
decently, taught self-control, and had proper 
instruction given him, he might have made a good 
king. 

His great Minister, Sir John Acton, speaking of 
him in after-years, remarked : 

'^Ferdinando is a good sort of man, because 
Nature has not supplied him with the faculties 
necessary to make a bad one." 

He was by no means irreligious, was very patient 
during illness or adversity, and when he knew him 
as a middle-aged man. Lord Valentia said that 
'^ good-humour was in his appearance and every 
motion," and that he looked like a country gentle- 
man. That Carolina improved him immensely in 
manners and habits was, of course, inevitable ; he 
would sing for hours with her and her ladies, and 
though he sang out of tune it was at least a civilising 
process ; he also played whist well and was fond of 
dancing. But she had an arduous task before her 
at the beginning of her life with him. 



MARIA CAROLINA 77 

Even on the morning after his wedding he got up 
very early and went out shooting.^ 

The absolute contrast between this young half 
savage and her own father and carefully educated 
brothers was, of course, at first a continual shock to 
the young Queen, while to him her beauty, refine- 
ment, and intellectual talents were equally surpris- 
ing. Tall, slight, and handsome,^ she resembled her 
mother, the Empress, in her strength of character, 
but not in her prudence and good sense. 

Over Ferdinando, however, she soon reigned 
supreme. If he displeased her she insisted upon 
leading a separate life, and would not forgive him 
without many entreaties and much persuasion. 

The Queen of Naples when in the prime of her 
youth and attractions had a beautiful oval face, very 
like her sister Antoinette, and if she had rather less 
beauty, possessed more voluptuous charm and 
fascination.3 

For her opinion and capacity the King had the 
greatest respect and admiration ; he was often heard 
to say, ^' My wife knows everything." 

She was royally generous, too — one of her first 
acts at Naples was to devote 20,000 ducats, given 
her by the city, to provide dowries for a number of 
young girls, who were brought to kiss her hand, 
amidst the acclamations of the people, at a great 
fete given in her honour on the 8th of June after 
her marriage. 

Before Leopold left Naples he wrote to his mother 
an account of a boating excursion they had made, 

' Vehse. « Helfert. 

3 " Marie Caroline, Reine des Deux Siciles " (Andre Bonnefonds). 



78 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

during which they had been overtaken by a tempest 
and nearly drowned. He said they were picked up 
by a small vessel, but were still in great danger. 
The King had made himself ridiculous by shouting 
and crying with terror. 

Following the instructions of her mother, the 
young Queen appeared to enter with sympathy into 
all her husband's pursuits, compassionating him 
after a bad day's shooting, admiring his strength 
and skill. Careful to direct his opinions as she 
desired, she always made him think that they were 
originated by himself, and would point out to him, 
after he had done exactly what she told him, how 
right and prudent had been his judgment. 

The following year, according to his promise, the 
Emperor Joseph went to Naples to see his sister, of 
whom he wrote : " In my conversations with the 
Queen I have always discovered that she has an 
excellent disposition, good inclinations, remarkable 
truthfulness, a great deal of cleverness and 
penetration — in fact, the germ of all that is amiable 
and estimable ; I have no doubt that although she 
is left to herself she will turn out well. . . . There 
is not the least atom of flirting about her, although 
she has plenty of opportunity, being always sur- 
rounded with young men ; her dress is very simple 
and without affectation. . . . She always wears a 
fichu and is not at all decolletee ; her dresses are 
so long that you cannot see even the point of 
her foot. 

^' Her devotion seems to me to be without 
bigotry ; she says her prayers in the morning, 



MARIA CAROLINA 79 

hears Mass every day, and has always several 
German books out of which she prays. ... In 
her room and study there seems to me an air of 
order and neatness. . . . She has grown scarcely 
at all since her departure, but has become a 
little fatter, which suits her and makes her 
prettier. . . ." He goes on to praise her 
demeanour with the King in public, the reserve 
and modesty of her manner and the restraint she 
imposed upon his too demonstrative love-making. 

The Emperor Joseph used afterwards to tell 
many absurd stories of the King of Naples, whom 
he ridiculed and mimicked, and the mutual 
jealousy of the King and Queen, their disputes 
and reconciliations. 

He had, besides, many sarcastic anecdotes and 
recollections of the little court of Parma, which 
he also visited, and of which he spoke with the 
greatest contempt. 

Some years later he paid another visit to his 
sister at Parma, and found that Amalie, who was 
decidedly eccentric, spent nearly all her time in 
hunting, and often wore a man's dress. 

Her husband, who had become very ascetic, 
used frequently to lead the life and wear the 
dress of a friar. 

One day when he remarked to the Duchess that 
her headdress was not becoming, she repHed : 

'^ Oh ! e bello e buono per un frate." ^ 

The Emperor, her brother, irritated by this and 
various other proceedings, said to her that as he 
was going to join the King of Sweden in Rome, 
* " Oh I it is pretty and good enough for a monk." 



8o A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

she had better come too, and then they could play 
an Italian game of cards in which the best hand 
consists of two kings and a card called " la matta," 
the fool.^ 

His brother Leopold was introducing important 
reforms into Tuscany, and the Emperor related 
with much amusement a conversation he had over- 
heard between him and the King of Naples. 

After Leopold telling Ferdinando all about his 
new laws, edicts, and economies, instituted for the 
good of his subjects, the latter, who had listened 
in silence, asked how many Neapolitan families 
were established in Tuscany ; and upon the Grand- 
duke counting up a small number, he replied : 

^* Well, mon frerCy I do not understand your 
people caring so little to seek for happiness. There 
are more than four times as many Tuscans living in 
my dominions as there are Neapolitans in yours." 

When Carolina had become reconciled to her 
husband and accustomed to her new life, her active 
mind sought, as the Enripress, her mother, had 
foretold, for interests and occupations to fill it ; and, 
like a true daughter of Maria Theresia, she found 
these in the affairs of government and of charitable 
institutions, and also in society and intercourse 
with the most distinguished and interesting persons 
with whom she could surround herself. 

The salon of Maria Carolina was soon frequented 
not only by the great nobles and courtiers, but by 
all the most learned, intellectual, and cultivated 
people to be found at Naples, old and young, 
whom she welcomed and protected. 

* Autobiography of Cornelia Knight. 



MARIA CAROLINA 8i 

Into the discussions, opinions, and visionary specu- 
lations of the savantSy poHticians, literary and 
scientific men with whom she had surrounded herself 
she entered with enthusiastic interest, little imagin- 
ing to what the new philosophy with which she was 
so delighted was to lead, while she listened to the 
wonderful plans for regenerating the human race, 
setting the world to rights and increasing know- 
ledge, set forth by young men of her own age and 
even younger, who would have been much better 
employed in pursuing their studies or working 
at their professions, and also by grey-headed 
dreamers whose imaginative gifts exceeded their 
common-sense. Among the latter were Cirillo, 
the celebrated botanist and physician ; Galanti, the 
author of well-known books on jurisprudence ; 
Conforti, professor of history at the University of 
Naples, and many others ; while the political 
economist Galiani and Filangieri, the author of a 
work entitled '* La Scienza della Legislazione," were 
about the same age as Carolina herself ; Mario 
Pagano, author of *' I Saggi Politici," was only four 
years older. 

Filangieri had been distinguished by the Queen 
after a legal success gained ^ when he was only 
one-and-twenty. Three years afterwards she made 
him a gentleman of the King's bedchamber and an 
officer of the volunteers in the marine service, 
assisted him in different ways in his literary career, 
and rewarded him for his valuable work on legisla- 
tion by giving him a lucrative post in the Royal 
College of Finance. 

7 



82 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

Before the eighth volume of " La Scienza della 
Legislazione " was published Filangieri died of 
fever in his thirty-seventh year ; after which the 
Queen provided for his three children.' While 
Ferdinando was fishing, shooting, and amusing 
himself at Caserta, Carolina governed the kingdom 
with absolute authority. 

Schemes for the reduction of taxes, the reclama- 
tion of waste lands, the settlement of disputes 
amongst the coral fishers, the planting of colonies 
on uninhabited islands, the establishment of secular 
schools, reforms and additions to the University, 
the endowment of more professors, the arrange- 
ment of museums and libraries and of a botanical 
garden were among the matters which occupied the 
attention of the Queen. 

Immediately after her arrival at Naples it was 
perfectly evident to Maria Carolina that between 
herself and the then all-powerful Minister, Tanucci, 
there would be perpetual enmity. 

One or other of them would rule the King and 
the kingdom, and the Queen was determined 
that this ruler should be herself ; and although 
it was some years before she attained the complete 
fulfilment of her wishes, she was at length entirely 
successful. 

^ The widow and children of Filangieri, all of whom had been 
entirely supported and protected by Maria Carohna, were 
amongst her bitterest enemies among the Jacobins of Naples. 




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CHAPTER VII 

Popularity of the Queen — Tanucci — The dictation of Spain — 
Correspondence with the Empress — Birth of an heir — The 
Queen enters the Council — The lazzaroni — Amusements of 
the King — His love-affairs — Ambition of the Queen — Her life 
at Naples — Caserta — The King and the peasant woman — The 
court of Naples — A court intrigue — The Marchesa di San 
Marco — The Abbe Galiani — Second-sight — Guarini — Birth of 
Prince Francesco — Death of the Prince Royal. 



V 



UEEN MARIA CAROLINA of Naples is 
one of the most shamefully slandered 
personalities of modern history. There was a time, 
and a very long time, during which all the world 
was full of her fame ; when she was amongst the 
leaders of fashion of the day ; when her praises 
were sung by poets and she was surrounded by 
admiration and flattery." ^ 

As a young Queen, Maria CaroHna had the 
reputation of sharing in many of the current ideas 
of the day ; gifted and enthusiastic as she was, this 
was only probable. Like so many women of high 
rank in Paris, she sympathised with the '^philoso- 
phies " of the eighteenth century,^ little imagining 

' "Maria Karolina von Oesterreich, Konigin von Neapel und 
Sicilien" (Helfert). 
= Ibid. 

8^ 



84 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

that the smouldering fire she and her friends 
were helping to feed would burst into flame and 
smoke in which many of those dearest to her would 
perish. 

Under the influence of her new opinions, in the 
early part of her reign, she favoured the Freemasons 
in her husband's dominions to such a degree that 
that body looked upon her and Ferdinando as their 
greatest protectors.^ 

When Tanucci and San Nicandro perceived the 
mistake they had made in their calculations with 
regard to the education of the King, they tried too 
late to instruct and interest him in State affairs and 
to induce him to assume the government himself. 
But their efforts were useless. They had, for their 
own ends, made Ferdinando incapable of holding 
the reins of government, which had now fallen, not, 
as they intended, into their own hands, but into 
those of a person with whom they had unexpectedly 
to reckon, and whose ideas and aspirations were 
entirely opposed to theirs.^ 

During the whole of the King's minority, and 
afterwards under his nominal authority, Tanucci 
had governed the Two Sicilies as if they were 
provinces of Spain and he a viceroy of Carlos III. 
All orders and directions came from Madrid, 
Spanish ideas and customs prevailed at court, and 
Spanish interests were paramount. That this state 
of things could be upset and altered and the whole 
policy of the government changed by a young girl 

* "Maria Karolina von Oesterreich, Konigin von Neapel und 
Sicilien" (Helfert). 
=» " Marie Caroline, Reine des Deux Sidles " (Andre Bonnefonds). 



MARIA CAROLINA 85 

of sixteen, just out of the hands of her governess, 
had never occurred to that astute minister. 

But so it was. 

The dictation of Spain and the power of Tanucci 
were aHke obnoxious to her, and she set to work to 
overthrow the one and oppose the other, bhndly 
supported in whatever she wanted to do by the 
King, whose delight in her beauty and admiration 
of her cleverness increased as time went on, so that 
before long she was all-powerful in the State, and 
the influence of Austria was rapidly replacing that 
of Spain. 

That influence was now very strong in Italy. 
Carolina, Leopold, Ferdinand, and Amalie reigned 
in Tuscany, Modena, Parma, and the Two Sicilies. 
From the rest of her family Carolina was divided 
by a far greater distance, but constant letters passed 
between the Empress and those of her children 
from whom she was separated. Three times a 
week did the imperial couriers .leave Vienna to 
bring letters to Leopold, Ferdinand, Amalie, 
Carolina, and Antoinette (now the wife of the 
Dauphin), from their mother, who took the 
deepest interest in their affairs, health, conduct, and 
happiness, and who required to be made acquainted 
with all that went on in their courts and house- 
holds. 

Of her three younger daughters, Carolina was, as 
before stated, the one of whom she most approved. 

From Amalie came little but complaints, quarrels, 
foolish mistakes to be corrected, offended persons 
to be conciliated. She did not know how to 
manage, or to make herself either popular or 



86 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

tolerably happy. Her husband was too young for 
her, the surroundings amongst which she found 
herself too uncongenial, her capacity too inferior, 
and her disposition too cold, dull, and unattractive 
for her to gain any influence. 

Antoinette, on the other hand, was too young, 
thoughtless, and fond of pleasure and amusement, 
and, with all her affection and reverence for her 
mother, often gave very little heed to her counsels. 

With Carolina, however, the Empress was so 
satisfied that in a letter to Mercy, complaining of 
something which had displeased her in Antoinette, 
she drew a comparison between her thoughtless 
conduct and that of her sister, the Queen of 
Naples. And one of her injunctions to her youngest 
daughter, on her marriage with the Dauphin, was to 
write constantly to her sister, the Queen of Naples, 
whose example she would do well to follow. 

The Empress, besides giving her daughter minute 
instructions as to the way in which she should 
influence and govern her husband and his kingdom, 
had stipulated in the marriage contract that Carolina 
should sit and vote in the State Council when she 
had borne an heir to the throne. But for the first 
few years she had no children, greatly to the 
disappointment of her husband and herself. 

One day, when they were walking in the woods 
of Caserta, they met a young peasant, who told 
them that a great calamity had just happened to 
him : his wife had given birth to three boys. He 
was unfortunate ! 

*' Unfortunate ! " cried the King. " You are too 
fortunate ! The signora and I have been married 



MARIA CAROLINA 87 

for years and have no children. How gladly I would 
be in your case ! " He gave the man some money 
and a cow, for he was good-natured and kind, 
especially during the first part of his life, when 
not enraged and excited to deeds of revenge and 
ferocity. 

However, Ferdinando and Carolina were not 
destined to suffer from the lack of heirs. In 1772 
their first child was born, and although that and the 
next one were daughters, the third was the much- 
desired son ; and between 1772 and 1794 the 
Queen had eighteen children, of whom most died 
in infancy or early youth. 

Some, however, lived to grow up, marry, and 
survive her ; and to all Ferdinando was a kind and 
affectionate father and Carolina a devoted mother — 
in fact, she used to say that she was " a mother 
before anything else." She bestowed the utmost 
care and attention on their education, amusement, 
and welfare ; their tutors and governesses were sent 
from Austria. 

After the birth of the Prince Royal, which was 
the occasion of great rejoicings, the Queen claimed 
her right of entering the Council, which Tanucci 
took upon himself to oppose. It was of no avail ; 
the King supported the Queen, who took her seat, 
became more powerful than ever, and never forgave 
the minister who had the audacity to attempt to 
exclude her, but resolved not to rest until she had 
obtained his dismissal. He resigned in 1777, after 
thirty-three years of power. 

Maria Carolina cultivated the friendship and con- 
fidence of the upper classes, amongst whom she 



88 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

became very popular ; while Ferdinando, called 
" King of the lazzaroni," was the idol of this, the 
lowest order of the populace. 

All through his childhood he had been allowed to 
make them his companions ; he spoke their dialect, 
shared their amusements, and was never so happy 
as when amongst them. 

Of this strange population, during her stay in 
Naples, about 1791-3, the great artist, Mme. 
Vigee Le Brun, writes : 

" The part of the Neapolitan populace most 
curious to observe are the lazzaroni. These people 
have simplified life to the extent of doing without 
lodging and almost without food, for they have no 
other habitation than the steps of the churches, 
and their frugality equals their laziness, which is 
saying not a little. They are to be found lying 
under the shade of walls or on the sea-shore. 
They are scarcely clothed, and their children go 
naked till they are twelve years old. At first I 
was rather scandalised and very much frightened 
to see them thus playing about on the Chiaja, 
where carriages are constantly passing, for this 
road is the usual promenade of Naples, and that 
of the Princesses ; but I soon got accustomed 
to it. 

'^ The poverty of the lazzaroni does not make 
them robbers ; they are, perhaps, too idle for that, 
more especially as they require so little to live 
upon. Most of the robberies are committed at 
Naples by hired servants, who are generally a very 
bad lot, the refuse of the great cities of different 
nations. During my sojourn there I only heard of 



MARIA CAROLINA 89 

one theft committed by a lazzarone, and that was so 
restricted that it seemed almost innocent. 

^'The Baron de Salis, one day when he was 
going to give a grand dinner, went down to his 
kitchen. As he came quietly downstairs he stopped 
short at the sight of a man who, fancying himself 
alone, approached the pot-au-feu, took out a piece 
of beef, and carried it away. 

'' The baron only watched him in silence, for all 
his silver plate was put out on a table ; the lazzarone 
saw it perfectly, but yet the poor man limited his 
theft to the piece of beef which he took." ^ 

The lazzaroni and the rest of the lower classes 
loved Ferdinando, who was good-natured and easy- 
going, whose strength and sporting achievements 
they admired, and to whose vices and ignorance 
they had no objection ; while the Queen, finding 
it useless to try to alter him, left him at liberty to 
follow his low pleasures and undignified amuse- 
ments and liaisons, while she led her own life, sup- 
ported by his authority, he remaining, as ever, a tool 
in her hands.^ And with this arrangement he was 
quite content. 

The care and affection she bestowed upon her 
children, of whom, after the birth of the eldest, 
she had one nearly every year, occupied a great deal 
of her thoughts, in spite of the political affairs in 
which she was absorbed. 

The relations between Spain and Naples became 
strained, for the Queen would permit no foreign 
dictation nor interference ; in fact, she found 

* "Souvenirs de Mme. Vigee Le Brun," 
^ Andre Bonnefonds. 



90 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

Naples and Sicily too narrow for her ambition as 
she recalled the days of her childhood in her 
Austrian home, and the vast dominions, power, and 
magnificence of her mother, the great Empress. 

Although she had now become accustomed to 
the King, and adapted, or rather resigned, herself 
to his ways, his society was, of course, not amusing 
to her. They had not a taste in common, and he 
was generally in the country, at Portici and Caserta, 
the latter the favourite summer palace of the royal 
family. 

Here he hunted, shot, and fished to his heart's 
content, and carried on the love intrigues which 
the Queen, unable to prevent, ignored to a certain 
extent when they concerned obscure persons not 
likely to give any trouble, but put an end to if the 
object of the King's fancy happened to be a woman 
of rank and education, likely to influence him or 
interfere in the slightest degree in political or social 
matters. 

For herself, freed at so early an age from all 
restraint, she desired the excitement and ambition 
of public and the freedom and enjoyments of 
private life, all of which she found no difficulty 
in obtaining. She had inherited the ambition of 
her mother without her austerity ; from her father, 
Frangois de Lorraine, came the love of pleasure 
and magnificence, the fondness for society, with its 
interests, amusements, friendships, and flirtations. 
Flattered and admired by all around her, thought- 
less, hasty, and inconsiderate by nature — these 
qualities, which her mother had endeavoured to 
correct, and of which her brothers had spoken with 



MARIA CAROLINA 91 

regret, saying that ^' all depended upon the hands 
into which she fell," were fostered and exaggerated 
in the position to which she had been called, not 
only by the pleasures, but by the sorrows which 
filled her stormy life. 

Carolina had never been insensible to the sur- 
passing loveliness of her Italian home, and as time 
went on she became more and more attached to 
it — " my beautiful Naples " as she called it sadly in 
later years of exile. 

And Caserta was an enchanting place in the still, 
hot, brilliant days of the long, radiant summer of 
Italy, Schonbrunn and Laxenburg could not rival 
the vast palace, with its spacious, lofty halls and 
corridors and saloons of marble, cool and delightful 
during the burning heat, the deep woods that sur- 
rounded it, the gardens, with their statues, cascades, 
and fountains, where Carolina made what she called 
an *' English garden," while Ferdinando pursued 
his sports and pastimes in the forest, which was full 
of game. 

One day, while the royal family were at Caserta, 
the King, walking about by himself, bought a turkey 
from an old woman whom he met not far from the 
palace, but who did not recognise him. He turned 
back to walk to the palace, accompanied by the 
old woman carrying the turkey. As soon as they 
approached drums began to beat and the guard 
turned out. The old woman stopped, seized hold 
of him, and pulled him back. 

^' Take care ! " she exclaimed. ^' Get out of the 
way ! Here is the mad King ^ coming ! He would 
' " Lou Re pazzo." 



92 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

think nothing of trampling us under his horses' 
feet ! " And she proceeded to grumble against him 
that he was always running about instead of 
minding his business, and so everything went to 
the devil ; there was no law, no justice, and every- 
thing was very dear. While she talked in this strain 
the King led her through the great gates, where the 
manner in which he was received showed her who 
he was. 

The old woman was dreadfully frightened, but 
Ferdinando, delighted with the adventure, took her 
to the Queen, to whom he made her tell the story, 
and who, equally amused, comforted her and gave 
her money.i 

The twenty-two years following their marriage 
were spent by Ferdinando and Carolina in the 
greatest splendour, luxury, and prosperity. 

"In our day," writes the Marchese Ulloa,^ "no 
one can form an idea of what an Italian prince was, 
who sat peacefully on his throne, with no responsi- 
bility except to God and his conscience, beloved by 
his people, in the midst of a splendid court, sur- 
rounded by art, magnificence, and pleasure." 

Swinburne, who spent some time at the court of 
Naples, expatiates on the splendour of the festivities 
that perpetually went on ; every day brought some 
entertainment. He describes the magnificence of 
the court balls, the fairy-like illuminations con- 
stantly to be seen lighting up the great palaces, the 
streets, and the calm bay, where ships and fishing 
boats lay at anchor, while the burning mountain 

^ "Memories of the Courts of Europe" (Swinburne, 1777). 
» Helfert. 



MARIA CAROLINA 93 

towered above, at intervals sending forth its volume 
of smoke into the starry night ; the races through 
the narrow streets, between tall houses and palaces 
hung with costly stuffs, their balconies filled by all 
the society of Naples ; the drive on Sundays to 
Posilippo by the Chiaja, thronged with carriages ; 
the sumptuous liveries of the servants, and the 
splendid sedan chairs in which the ladies went 
about the streets. He describes also a magnificent 
procession through the Toledo of sledges and 
sportsmen of different nations, splendidly dressed, 
and watched from open windows thronged with 
spectators leaning upon tapestries and silken 
hangings.^ 

There seemed to be no end to the balls and the 
fetes of different kinds. The taking the veil by 
a daughter of a Neapolitan house was an occasion 
of great ceremonial and expense ; it often cost 
more than a marriage, including the function and 
the pension paid afterw^ards to the nun. 

Large families prevailed at Naples ; the Duchessa 
di Monterolando had more than twenty children, 
and when one of her daughters took the veil the 
music and ceremonial expenses cost a thousand 
pounds. 

The nuns in and about Naples were very rich, 
and enjoyed a great deal of liberty. Every summer 
the Queen would visit each convent in turn and be 
entertained by the nuns, with the large suite by 
which she w^as accompanied. 

Swinburne describes the King as boyish, good- 
natured, and boisterous, telling amusing stories 

^ "Memories of the Courts of Europe" (Swinburne). 



94 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

and always carrying on intrigues with women — 
chiefly contadine.^ The opera dancer Rossi, one 
of his favourites, afterwards married to an Italian 
noble, always came to her balcony when the King 
was on his, to see the masquerades. Ferdinando 
was also very fond of music and danced well. 

Amongst others he carried on an intrigue with a 
beautiful dancer named Bretella, with whom a 
certain Austrian, Baron Ambrosius von Leykam, 
was also in love. One day the Baron, while visiting 
her, was nearly surprised by the King, and in his 
haste to escape from the house slipped upon a 
polished floor and lamed himself for life. However, 
he married La Bretella and took her to Vienna. 
Their second daughter, Antonia, born in 1806, was 
so lovely that Prince Metternich, then a widower, 
became passionately in love with her, and married 
her, to the utter astonishment of all Vienna. For, 
besides the scandal of the Bretella, the Leykam were 
a parveriue family who had risen in the postal 
service ; and such a marriage was opposed to every 
sentiment, principle, and idea which that haughty 
and illustrious statesman had entertained and pro- 
fessed during his whole life. But he adored 
Antonia, and for fifteen months their marriage was 
a romance of love. Then Antonia bore a son, 
Richard, his heir ; and after thanking him for the 
unspeakable happiness of her short wedded life, 
died in his arms. He never left her, and in 
his grief and despair offered the doctors all the 
treasures and favours of the monarchy if they 
could save her. 

^ Peasants. 



MARIA CAROLINA 95 

His first marriage had been one entirely of con- 
venience ; his third wife, Melanie, of the great Zichy 
family, he never loved ; the portrait of Antonia 
always hung before his writing-table, in spite of the 
jealousy and anger it aroused in her successor. 

It was not so much to these dancers and con- 
tadine that the Queen objected — she considered 
them too far beneath her notice ; but when the 
King's attention was attracted by any one of a 
different class she at once interfered. 

The Duchessa di Lucciana, daughter of the Mar- 
chese Gonzuela, Secretary of State, was at one time 
an object of her suspicion ; so much so that on the 
night of a State ball at the palace, being displeased 
by the flirtation between her and the King, she 
stopped the ball, and every one had to leave. 

It was remarked that this was jealousy of power, 
not of love,i but it was quite necessary for her to be 
watchful in order to guard against the plots from 
time to time organised to get the King under 
another influence. 

In one of these conspiracies the Marchesa di San 
Marco, one of the beauties of the court, arranged a 
plan, with the assistance of the Prince della Rocca 
and one or two others, to captivate the King, and 
by using many precautions and carrying on the 
intrigue at Caserta while the Queen was at Naples, 
to prevent her knowing anything about it. 

At first it was successful ; the King was, of course, 

only too delighted, but after a time the Queen 

found out what was going on. She appeared at 

Caserta very angry and at once put an end to the 

^ ** Gelosia d'^impero, non gelosia d' amore." 



96 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

affair. She brought back the King to Naples, and 
forgave him on his promising to give up the 
Marchesa di San Marco, whom she exiled from 
Naples. The Prince della Rocca prudently retired 
to his estates in the country. Some time afterwards 
the King sent him the ribbon of San Gennaro, in 
consequence of which he returned to court, waited 
on the King and Queen to thank them, and was 
graciously received by both their Majesties. When 
he was gone Ferdinando told Carolina that he had 
been an agent in the San Marco affair, to which 
she replied : 

'* You have told me too late." 

A witty story is told concerning this same 
Marchesa di San Marco, whose evil reputation 
was well known at Naples. 

A conspicuous figure at the Neapolitan court was 
the Abbe GaHani, who had lived much in Paris, 
where he belonged to the philosophical set, was a 
friend of Voltaire, and frequented the salons of 
Mme. du Deffand and Mme. Geoffrin. He was 
clever, amusing, a favourite with the King of Spain, ^ 
and consequently an object of the jealousy of 
Tanucci. 

A dispute was going on one day between the 
Abbe and some others, in which the former was 
endeavouring to prove that the Gospel of St. Mark 
(San Marco) was an abstract of that of St. Matthew 
(San Matteo). Some one, tired of the subject, tried 
to change the conversation, and began to speak of 
the beauty of certain women of Naples — amongst 
others of Signora di San Marco. 
» Carlos III. 



MARIA CAROLINA 97 

'^ Eh ! what is the use of it ? " he exclaimed. 
'^ Have not I told you twenty times that San Marco 
is the epitome of San Matteo." Now San Matteo was 
the name of that quarter of Naples usually inhabited 
by the demi-mondeJ 

A very different ecclesiastic sometimes to be met 
there was a Scotchman, the Abbe Grant, who had 
been concerned in the rising of 1745. He was 
arrested and sent to London in the same ship with 
Balmerino, Kilmarnock, and other unfortunate 
adherents of the Stuarts. During the voyage a 
Scotch servant, said to possess second-sight, 
remarked to him, "You will be saved." 

•^ I fear not, my friend," replied the Abbe, shaking 
his head. 

" You will," reiterated the man ; " but you will be 
the only one." 

The Abbe did not believe him, as he had no 
friends to intercede for him and he knew the court 
party was bitter against him. By the merest chance, 
however, no proofs were forthcoming and no 
witnesses appeared against him. He was accord- 
ingly acquitted and retired to Italy, where he 
spent the rest of his life — chiefly in Rome. 

Gossip, it need scarcely be said, did not spare the 
Queen, who was incautious, fond of admiration, 
and eager to amuse herself ; and the King was 
always glad to seize the opportunity to retort when 
she complained of his proceedings. 

A young officer named Guarini was at one time 
foolishly distinguished by her, and, what was more 

* " Eh ! a che serve ? non vi ho detto gia venti volte che San 
Marco e 1' epitome di San Matteo ? " 

8 



98 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

foolish still, she made confidences about him to her 
friend the Duchess of San Severo. Afterwards she 
quarrelled with the Duchess, who, out of revenge, 
persuaded her husband to tell the King of the 
flirtation between the Queen and Guarini. 

The King was delighted, and next time the Queen 
was jealous he retorted with some remark about 
Guarini which showed her that she had been 
betrayed. And at a grand supper at Posilippo 
Ferdinando led Guarini up to the Queen and made 
him sit next to her, saying that was his place. 

The Queen, though very angry, could say nothing, 
and the King considered it an excellent joke ; but 
Carolina's vexation gave her an attack of fever. 
She sent Guarini away to Turin, where she gave him 
a house, and the affair was at an end. 

In 1777 the Queen, who was expecting another 
child, caused a sensation by dismissing her doctor, 
Viventor — a corrupt, ignorant, brutal fellow, who had 
obtained his post by marrying one of her favourite 
maids — and engaging an Englishman named Pears 
in his place. Viventor had somehow acquired the 
King's favour, meddled in everything, even in naval 
affairs, did infinite mischief, and made himself 
generally odious.^ 

Carolina was at a ball when she suddenly felt ill 
and retired, soon after which the roar of cannon 
announced the birth of a prince. The King on 
this occasion gave the Queen 100,000 ducats and an 
allowance of 50,000 ; all of which she spent in a 
year. This prince was Francesco, soon by his 
brother's death to become Prince Royal. One 

' Swinburne. 



MARIA CAROLINA 99 

of the few sentiments shared by Ferdinando and 
Carolina was their love for their children, especially 
for the little Prince Royal, a pretty, engaging child, 
of whom Christine's husband, Albrecht of Saxe- 
Teschen, wrote with much approval during a visit 
to Naples.! 

But the following year the little Carlo, who had 
always been delicate, died of small-pox, to the 
inexpressible grief of his parents. 

The King, though devoted to his children, seldom 
if ever gave them any presents himself, but let them 
have everything they wanted through the Queen, 
One day, however, he gave his eldest daughter a 
gold piece, with which the child was so delighted 
that she threw her arms round him and hugged 
him. 

On the Queen asking why she was so overjoyed, 
when she herself gave her so many presents, the 
child replied : 

^^ Ah, mamma, but this is the first I was ever able 
to get out of papa ! " 

Upon which the King became quite affected and 
cast down. 

Too much money was squandered in the costly 
revels and extravagant life of the court to Ipave any- 
thing to continue the improvements begun by 
Carlos III., who had built the palaces of Portici 
and Caserta and the great hospital, begun the 
excavations at Pompeii and Herculaneum and 
the great road along the sea, made other roads, 
the Strada Nuova, and the Mola. 

^ " Er hat eine offene, freundliche Physiognomic." 

LOFC. 



CHAPTER VIII 

The Queen's Government — Acton — Death of the Empress Maria 
Theresia— Scandalous reports — Jealousy of the King — Violent 
scene — Reconciliation — Visit of the Archduchess Christine — 
Scenes in an earthquake — On board the fleet — Death of the 
King of Spain — Of two children of the Queen — The eve of 
the French Revolution — Mme. Le Brun — Journey to Vienna — 
Death of the Emperor Joseph — Marriages of two daughters of 
the Queen — Coronation of the Emperor Leopold — Stay in 
Austria — Rome — Marie Antoinette — Varennes — Escape of the 
Comte and Comtesse de Provence — The Archduchess Christine. 

THE military forces of the kingdom having 
fallen into neglect, the Queen turned her 
attention towards their improvement, and, what 
was still more necessary, to the consideration of the 
unprotected condition of the coasts, in constant 
peril not only from the attacks of the enemy in 
time of war, but at all times from the ravages of 
the corsairs from Barbary, Morocco, and all along 
the North Coast of Africa. 

It was obvious that a proper fleet was necessary 
for the protection of the seaboard towns, villages, 
fishing, and trading vessels ; but the fleet must have 
an admiral, and Carolina looked in vain amongst the 
Neapolitans for a suitable person. 

Finding nobody who was at all possible, she 
turned her attention and inquiries to other countries, 



MARIA CAROLINA loi 

and fixed her choice upon an officer named Acton, 
at that time head of the Tuscan navy, whom she 
persuaded her brother Leopold to give up to her. 

Acton was of English ^ parentage, but born at 
Besangon ; he had been for a time in the French 
navy and afterwards entered the Tuscan service, 
in which he had rapidly distinguished himself. 

He had invented certain light, swift sailing ships, 
by which the Tuscan renfort had protected the 
retreat of the Spanish fleet during an expedition 
against Algiers ; had rendered invaluable service to 
the Tuscan navy, and was evidently just the sort 
of man required to take the direction of naval 
affairs at Naples, where the Queen, delighted to have 
secured him, made him Minister of Marine and set 
him to reorganise the fleet (1779). 

Subtle, penetrating, intelligent, capable, he was 
the ideal Minister of her dreams. Very soon he 
was made Minister of War, was loaded with 
honours, and before long was the most powerful 
personage in the country. 

His influence with the Queen became unbounded ; 
gradually he helped her to throw off the Spanish 
yoke ; the navy was increased and reorganised, and 
various changes and projects carried out according 
to the desires of the Queen. 

The death of her mother in 1780 was a severe 

^ Son of an English Jacobite who emigrated to Besangon, where 
he practised as a physician. In 1791 he succeeded his distant 
cousin, Sir Richard Acton, of Aldenham Hall, Shropshire. Of his 
two sons, Ferdinand Richard Edward succeeded to the baronetcy, 
Charles Januarius Edward entered holy orders and became a 
Cardinal. Sir Ferdinand's son was made Baron Acton, December, 
1869. — " The Queen of Naples and Lord Nelson " (Jeaffreson). 



I02 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

sorrow and calamity. The Empress was only sixty- 
four, and ever since her daughter's marriage had 
kept up a constant correspondence with her ; her 
counsels and influence could not be spared by the 
excitable, wilful young Queen, who, in her, lost the 
only being in the world who had the right to blame 
or advise her in every circumstance of her life, and 
to whom she looked up with love and reverence as 
her superior. 

That the Neapolitan navy should be, as it soon 
became, more than strong enough to protect the 
country without having recourse to Spain, did not 
suit the Spanish King, who was imprudent enough 
to desire his son to dismiss Acton, by which inter- 
ference he only estranged Ferdinando and infuriated 
Carolina. Not only the fleet but the army was 
increased and made efficient, Acton inviting foreign 
officers and drill-sergeants to fill the posts for which 
the Neapolitans were utterly incompetent, and 
thereby incurring the jealousy and hatred of the 
latter. 

When Acton arrived at Naples he was about forty 
or forty-two years of age, by no means handsome, 
but a courteous, agreeable man of the world, with 
all the knowledge and experience acquired in a 
varied and adventurous life. 

Carolina was about twenty-eight, in the height 
of her beauty, supreme in power, rash and incon- 
siderate in character, with a husband altogether her 
inferior intellectually and morally, with whom she 
had scarcely an idea in common. 

The court of Naples was at that time a remark- 
ably scandalous one, but in any case it was im- 



MARIA CAROLINA 103 

possible that the intimate friendship which arose 
between the Queen and the Minister should not 
have caused considerable comment. 

The position of women at Naples was widely 
different from the way in which they were regarded 
in Austria, and Carolina was not at all likely to act 
with prudence or caution, nor to escape calumny 
even if she had been more circumspect, considering 
her exalted position, the party she represented, and 
the enemies with whom she was surrounded. When 
one remembers the outrages and infamies circulated 
by the radicals and revolutionists about her sister, 
the unfortunate Marie Antoinette, and the disgraceful 
slanders and lies deliberately fabricated and spread 
abroad by Napoleon for political reasons against the 
gentle, saintly Queen Louise of Prussia, one cannot 
be surprised that these same radicals and revolu- 
tionists should pour forth their spite and fury upon 
a woman who was not only the sister and aunt of 
their victims but herself a queen, and a leader and 
protector of royalists, emigres, and conservatives ; 
or that Napoleon should vent his rage upon a 
princess who dared to oppose him and whose 
kingdom he wanted for one of his own family. 

The friendship between the Queen and Acton, 
and the constant intercourse which their joint 
government of the State rendered absolutely un- 
avoidable, accordingly gave rise after a time to a 
considerable amount of gossip, as may easily be 
imagined at the court of the Two Sicilies. It even 
spread to various foreign courts, and the jealousy 
of the King was aroused. 

That there was any harm in this friendship there 



I04 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

has never been the sHghtest proof, nor is there the 
least reason to suppose so. The fact of the affairs 
of the kingdom being conducted by a young and 
attractive woman, whose high spirits and love of 
society, amusement, and admiration were as con- 
spicuous as her talents, and a man who, besides 
being a capable minister, was an extremely pleasant, 
cultivated person, was certain to give rise to 
scandalous reports. The malignity of her enemies 
was gratified by making and circulating the un- 
justifiable statements on this subject and many 
others which are to be found in the writings of her 
revolutionary assailants. 

The jealousy of Ferdinando, in spite of his own 
conduct, was continually causing those shortlived 
though violent quarrels which, with their frequent 
occurrence and rapid reconciliation, so amused the 
Emperor Joseph. 

There were stormy scenes at first about Acton, in 
one of which Ferdinando flew into a rage and 
exclaimed : 

'^ I am trying to surprise you together. I will 
kill you both, and have your bodies thrown out of 
the windows of the palace ! " 

Carolina retorted, as well she might, and they set 
spies upon each other. But very soon a reconcilia- 
tion was patched up ; Acton left Naples, but only for 
Castellamare, from whence he returned in disguise 
two or three times a week for the audiences which 
the Queen continued to give him, and gradually 
matters drifted back into their usual course. 

The English traveller, John Moore, records his 
impressions of Naples at this time in a series of 



MARIA CAROLINA 105 

letters, in which he describes the beauty of the 
scenery, cHmate, &c. ^' No street in Rome," he 
says, ^'equals in beauty the Strada di Toledo at 
Naples ; and still less can any of them be com- 
pared with those beautiful streets which are open to 
the bay. . . . The Neapolitan nobility are excessively 
fond of splendour and show. This appears in the 
brilliancy of their equipages, the number of their 
attendants, the richness of their dress, and the 
grandeur of their titles. 

'^ I am assured that the King of Naples counts a 
hundred persons with the title of prince, and a still 
greater number with that of duke, among his 
subjects. . . . When we consider the magnificence of 
their entertainments . . . we are surprised that the 
richest of them can support such expensive estab- 
lishments.i I dined, soon after our arrival, at the 
Prince of Franca Villa's. There were about forty 
people at table. It was a meagre day. The dinner 
consisted entirely of fish and vegetables, and was 
the most magnificent entertainment I ever saw, 
comprehending an infinite variety of dishes, a vast 
profusion of fruit, and the wines of every country 
in Europe. I dined since at Prince Isacci's. I shall 
mention two circumstances from which you may 
form an idea of the grandeur of an Italian palace 
and the number of domestics which some of the 
nobility retain. We passed through twelve or 
thirteen large rooms before we arrived at the 
dining-room. There were thirty-six persons at 
table; none served but the Prince's domestics, and 

* It had just been mentioned in the same letter that the richest of 
them had not more than twelve or thirteen thousand a year. 



io6 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

each guest had a footman behind his chair. Other 
domestics belonging to the Prince remained in the 
adjacent rooms and in the hall. We afterwards 
passed through a considerable number of other 
rooms in our way to one from which there is a 
very commanding view. 

^' As there is no opera at present, the people of 
fashion generally pass part of the evening at the 
Corso on the sea-shore. This is the great scene of 
Neapolitan splendour and parade, and on occasions 
of grand parade will strike a stranger very much. 
The finest carriages are painted, gilt, varnished, and 
lined in a richer and more beautiful manner than 
has yet become fashionable either in England or 
France. They are often drawn by six, and some- 
times by eight, horses. 

'^ It is the mode here to have two running footmen, 
very gaily dressed, before the carriage, and three or 
four servants in rich liveries behind. . . . The ladies 
or gentlemen within the coaches glitter in all the 
brilliancy of lace, embroidery, and jewels. The 
Neapolitan coaches for gala days are made with 
very large windows, that the spectators may enjoy 
a view of the parties within. Nothing can be more 
showy than the harness of the horses ; their heads 
and manes are ornamented with the rarest plumage, 
and their tails set off with ribands and artificial 
flowers. . . . 

^^ We may have what opinion we like of the whole 
race of Bourbon, but it would be highly indecent to 
deny that the reigning Kings of Spain and Naples 
are very great Princes. . . . His Neapolitan Majesty 
seems to be about the age of six or seven and 



MARIA CAROLINA 107 

twenty. He is a prince of great activity of body 
. . . very fond, like the King of Prussia, of review- 
ing his troops, and is perfectly master of the whole 
mystery of the manual exercise. . . . This monarch 
is also a very excellent shot . . . possesses, I am 
informed, many other accomplishments. I par- 
ticularise only those to which I have myself been 
a witness. No king in Europe is supposed to 
understand the game of billiards better. ... In 
domestic life this Prince is generally allowed to be 
an easy master, a good-natured husband, a dutiful 
son, and an indulgent father. 

** The Queen of Naples is a beautiful woman, and 
seems to possess the affability, good-humour, and 
benevolence which distinguish, in such an amiable 
manner, the Austrian family." ^ 

At this time Maria Carolina had the happiness 
of a visit from her sister and brother-in-law, the 
Archduchess Christine and Prince Albrecht of Saxe- 
Teschen, who were making a tour in Italy. Of 
them also the Englishman, John Moore, writes in 
one of his letters from Naples : 

"The King and Queen lately paid a visit to four 
of the principal nunneries in this town. Their 
motive was to gratify the curiosity of the Arch- 
duchess and her husband. Prince Albrecht of Saxony. 
. . . We had the honour of seeing them frequently 
in Rome, where they conciliated the affection of the 
Italian nobles by their obliging manners as much 
as they commanded respect by their high rank. 
The Archduchess is a very beautiful woman, and 
more distinguished by the propriety of her conduct 
* J. Moore. 



io8 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

than either by birth or beauty. Conscious from 
her infancy of the highest rank, and accustomed to 
honours, it never enters into her thoughts that any 
person will fail in paying her a due respect. . . . 
A smile of benignity puts all who approach this 
Princess perfectly at their ease, and dignity sits as 
smoothly on her as a well-made garment. . . . 

'^ As nobody is permitted to enter those convents, 
except on such extraordinary occasions as this, 
when they are visited by the Sovereigns, the British 
Minister seized this opportunity of procuring an 
order for admitting the Duke of Hamilton and me. 
We accordingly accompanied him and a few others 
who were in the King's suite. I have seen various 
nunneries in different parts of Europe, but none 
that could be compared even with the meanest of 
those four in this city for neatness and conveniency. 
Each of them is provided with a beautiful garden. 
. . . These four nunneries are for the reception of 
young ladies of good families, and into one in par- 
ticular none but such as are of very high rank can 
be admitted, either as pensioners or to take the 
veil. Each of the young ladies in this splendid 
convent have both a summer and a winter apart- 
ment, and many other accommodations unknown 
in other retreats of this nature. The royal visitors 
were received in them all by the Lady Abbess at the 
head of the oldest of the sisterhood. They were 
afterwards presented with nosegays and served with 
fruit, sweetmeats, and a variety of cooling drinks by 
the younger nuns. The Queen and her amiable 
sister received all very graciously, conversing 
familiarly with the Lady Abbesses, and asking a 
few obliging questions of each. 



MARIA CAROLINA 109 

'* In one convent the company were surprised, on 
being led into a large parlour, to find a table covered, 
and every appearance of a most plentiful cold repast, 
consisting of several joints of meat, hams, fish, fowl, 
and other dishes. It seemed rather ill-judged to 
have prepared a feast of such a solid nature imme- 
diately after dinner, for these royal visits were made 
in the afternoon. The Lady Abbess, however, 
earnestly pressed their Majesties to sit down, with 
which they complied, and their example was followed 
by the Archduchess and some of the ladies. The 
nuns stood behind to serve their royal guests. The 
Queen chose a slice of cold turkey, which, being cut 
up, turned out to be a large piece of lemon ice of 
the shape and appearance of a roasted turkey. All 
the other dishes were ices of different kinds, dis- 
guised under the forms of joints of meat, fish, and 
fowl, as above mentioned. The gaiety and good- 
humour of the King, the affable and engaging 
behaviour of the royal sisters, and the satisfaction 
which beamed from the plump countenance of the 
Lady Abbess threw an air of cheerfulness on this 
scene." ^ 

In the year 1783 a fearful earthquake devastated 
parts of Calabria and Sicily, by which Messina was 
almost destroyed. It began just at the hour when 
most of the inhabitants were at dinner, and after the 
first terrible shocks flames broke out in different 
parts of the city. The cathedral, the royal and 
archiepiscopal palaces, the hospital, most of the 
convents, churches, and houses were in ruins ; 

' *' A View of Society and Manners in Italy " (John Moore, M.D. 
1780). 



no A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

numbers of people were killed, while robbery, 
violence, and panic increased the scenes of horror 
which everywhere prevailed. 

There were, however, instances of unselfish 
heroism which contrasted with the darker incidents 
of this calamity, as, for instance, the conduct of the 
young Marchesa di Sparpara, daughter of a Pro- 
vengal gentleman. Having fainted with terror, she 
was carried out of her tottering house by her 
husband and hurried down to the port, when, just 
as she was about to step into a boat, she perceived 
that in the confusion her child had been left behind. 
Her husband was too busy to see what she was 
about, and leaving the boat, she rushed back to the 
house, snatched the baby from its cradle, and 
hurried to the staircase. Just as she arrived there 
it fell in ruins before her ; the rooms were falling as 
she ran from one to another with the child in her 
arms, and finally appeared upon the balcony calling 
desperately for help. But no one could get near 
her ; the house fell, and mother and child perished 
in the flames and ruins.^ 

Horror-stricken by this terrible calamity, the King 
and Queen did their utmost to help the sufferers, 
straining every resource to collect money to mitigate 
the famine and distress that followed. But the next 
year another scourge, namely, a great pestilence, 
spread through those afflicted provinces, bringing 
new terrors, dangers, and miseries in its train. 

During this second year of misfortune (1784) the 
Emperor Joseph arrived for the second time on a 
visit to his sister. On this occasion he travelled 

' " Histoire de Marie Caroline, Reine de Naples " (Serieys). 



MARIA CAROLINA iii 

incognito, and represented to his sister that, as he 
wished to pass his time with the learned men of 
Naples, and to study the antiquities of the country, 
he would rather not stay in the Palazzo Reale. He 
therefore lodged elsewhere, and the learned Luigi 
Serio was appointed by the Queen to be his cicerone 
during his sojourn there. 

The fleet for which Naples had to thank the 
Queen and Acton was a source of deep satisfaction 
and pride to the former, who, in the spring of 1785, 
persuaded the King to accompany her in a magni- 
ficent progress to display it to some of the other 
Italian Princes. 

On the 30th of April, therefore, the royal family 
embarked on the flagship, which was luxuriously 
arranged, splendidly decorated, and followed by 
twelve warships, all crowded with the Neapolitan 
court and nobles, with bands of music, flags, and 
every sign of festivity. Their first destination was 
Livorno, where they were met by the Grand-duke 
Leopold and the Tuscan Princes, who escorted them 
to Florence, where, as on her former visit, Maria 
Carolina was magnificently received, and enjoyed 
herself much more than when, as a frightened, 
homesick girl of sixteen, she first beheld its gates 
and towers. They visited Pisa, Milan, and Turin, 
everywhere received with festivities ; and at Genoa 
went again on board their own ships, and sailed 
homewards over the bright summer sea attended 
by numbers of warships of other nations — English, 
Dutch, Maltese, &c. — and with this imposing escort 
entered the Bay of Naples. 

Carlos III. of Spain, father of Ferdinando, died in 



112 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

1788, and was succeeded by his son, Carlos IV., a 
weak, miserable prince. 

Not long afterwards the small-pox, which had 
been fatal to so many of the Habsburg children, 
and to which the Queen's eldest son had already 
fallen victim, broke out again amongst her family. 

Francesco, now the heir and about eleven years 
old, escaped ; the next boy, Gennaro, who was two 
years younger, died. The Queen, half wild with 
grief and terror, had all the rest of the children 
inoculated, but this was the middle of winter, and 
the youngest was a baby of five months old, which 
also died. The Queen added to her sorrow by 
reproaching herself bitterly for having perhaps 
caused the child's death by having him inoculated 
when he was too young to bear it or the weather 
too cold. 

The Austrian Ambassador writes to Vienna, 
January 3, 1789 : 

^* The royal family and court have lately been 
in great distress. Scarcely had they had time to 
recover from the . . . death of his Catholic Majesty,^ 
when the second Prince, the Infant Don Gennaro, 
died in a few hours, after a sudden relapse, of small- 
pox, January 2nd, at four o'clock in the morning. 
His royal parents, whose especial love his pre- 
cociously developed intelligence had gained, are 
plunged in grief. . . ." 

The writer goes on to relate the death a few days 
later of the little Don Carlo, and to say that much 
anxiety was felt for the health of the Queen, who 
seems really to have been almost out of her senses 

' Carlos III. 



MARIA CAROLINA 113 

with the violence of her grief. The frantic, un- 
reasonable state into which she threw herself was 
certainly very unlike the way her mother the 
Empress had borne sorrows of this kind, and her 
brothers Joseph and Leopold, while pitying and 
sympathising with her sorrow, said to each other 
that they feared the impatience and rashness of 
their " crack-brained sister " would bring trouble 
upon her some day. The immediate consequences 
of her folly might have been serious, for in her 
frenzy she declared the small-pox came through the 
Spaniards, whom she actually accused of having 
designs against the lives of her sons. 

Fortunately no notice was taken by Spain ; these 
outrageous and senseless accusations being attributed 
to the state into which her grief had thrown her. 
When she recovered her right judgment she 
apologised, saying that the loss of her children 
had made her lose her senses and suspect every 
one. 

She had afterwards two more sons — Leopold, born 
1790, who survived her and was her especial 
favourite and consolation, and Albert (1792), who 
died young. 

The King of Spain, anxious to be on friendly 
terms with his Neapolitan relations, now proposed 
that the Spanish fleet should go to Naples to salute 
the King and Queen, and that a Spanish infanta 
should be betrothed to the Prince Royal of Naples. 
Ferdinando might have consented, but the Queen 
would not hear of it. She was quite as eager to 
marry her children into the family of Habsburg 
as her mother had been for alliances with that 

9 



114 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

of Bourbon, and this arrangement would have 
frustrated her favourite plan. 

The health of the Emperor Joseph was faihng ; 
the Grand-duke of Tuscany, her favourite brother, 
was the next heir. He had offered his daughter, 
the Archduchess Clementine, for the Prince Royal, 
and his second son for her eldest daughter. 

The fleet of Spain paid its proposed complimentary 
visit to Naples, but the Spanish marriages were 
declined, and the elder children of the King and 
Queen were betrothed to their Austrian cousins. 

Maria Carolina was as anxious as her mother had 
been for the early and exalted marriages of her 
children.^ For her two eldest daughters and her 
eldest son to marry the children of her two brothers 
was her most cherished plan ; besides which she 
had formed another one of marrying her fourth 
daughter, Amelie, to the Dauphin, son of her sister 
Antoinette, with whom she had corresponded upon 
the subject and who was delighted with the idea. 
The Dauphin was born in 1780 and Amelie in 
1782 ; therefore their ages were suitable ; they 
both shared the blood of Bourbon and Habsburg ; 
their mothers resolved that this alliance should 
some day take place, and the Princess Amelie 
was taught to consider herself the future wife of 
the Dauphin. 

But the eldest son of Marie Antoinette, fortunately 
for himself, died in 1789, and the little Princess of 

^ The daughters of Maria Carolina who lived to grow up became 
the Empress of Germany, the Grand-duchess of Tuscany, the 
Queen of Sardinia, the Queen of France, and the Princess of the 
Asturias, who, if she had lived, would have been Queen of Spain. 




[^.'eiirchiii. Paris. 



Marie Antoinette 

" Faisant UN Bouquet." 

After the painting by Mme. Vigie Le Brim at Versailles. 



To face p. 115. 



MARIA CAROLINA 115 

seven years old took his death very much to 
heart and cried bitterly when she was told of it. 

When she was an old woman of eighty, Amelie, 
in speaking of this recollection, said : 

"y^ pleural heaiicoup mon ^ 'tit cousin;" adding 
with a smile, " Vous voyez que f avals toujours ete 
destinee a etre Relne de France" ^ 

If it occurred to the two unfortunate Queens to 
substitute their two next children, the Duke of Nor- 
mandy (now Dauphin) and the Princess Antoinette, 
events soon put an end to the possibility of uniting 
these two ill-fated children, whose tragic destiny 
contrasted so terribly with the brilliant prospects to 
which they were born. 

The event just recorded was a severe disappoint- 
ment to the Queen of Naples, besides her sympathy 
with the grief of her sister. 

The child destined to be Queen of France was the 
first born after the death of the Empress Maria 
Theresia, whose name was added to the others chosen 
for her. Marie Amelie Therese de Bourbon was born 
at Caserta in the full height of her parents' happiness 
and prosperity (1782). She was so delicate a baby 
that she had at first to be kept wrapped up in cotton- 
wool. But if her health in her childhood was 
delicate, her intelligence was so remarkably and 
early developed that at two years and a half old, 
although she had as yet no teeth, she was beginning 
to read ; and the King of Spain, her grandfather, 
was so pleased with her precocious attainments that 
in 1785 he wrote to her himself to encourage her. 

Often in later years she would talk to her children 
* " Vie de Marie Amelie, Reine des Fran9ais " (Auguste Trognon). 



Ii6 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

and grandchildren of this letter of Carlos III., and 
also of an old priest to whom she used to say the 
catechism, and who was so fond of her and so 
delighted with the facility with which she learned 
and understood his religious lessons that he used to 
call her ^^fata mia." ^ At that time Naples and all 
Italy were filled with admiration of the sanctity of 
S. Alfonso di Liguori, and the Queen on one 
occasion when she went to see him took all her 
children with her and asked him to bless them.^ 

Mme. Campan, in her '^ Memoires de Marie- 
Antoinette," says that the Queen of Naples was at 
one time anxious to marry the Prince Royal, her son, 
to Madame Royale, eldest daughter of the King and 
Queen of France, and that she well remembered a 
secret messenger coming from Maria Carolina to 
Marie Antoinette and asking her, she being one of 
the ladies of the Queen's household, to use her 
influence with her royal mistress in favour of the 
plan ; that she explained that such an interference 
in State affairs on her part was out of the question ; 
and that the Queen afterwards spoke to her on the 
subject, declaring that Madame Royale would be in 
a much better and happier position married to her 
cousin the Due d'Angouleme than she could be in 
any foreign country even as Queen. That she went 
on to say that there was no court in Europe to be 
compared with that of France, and that if a French 
princess was to be married to a prince of any other 
nation she ought to leave Versailles when she was 
seven years old, to be brought up at the court which 

^ " Vie de Marie Amelie, Reine des Fran^ais " (Auguste Trognon). 
= Ibid. 



MARIA CAROLINA 117 

was to be her future home ; that at twelve years old 
it would be too late, for the recollections she would 
then have and the comparisons she would make 
would destroy the happiness of her life. 

For in the days of her splendour and prosperity 
Marie Antoinette thoroughly appreciated the superior 
magnificence of her position to that of any of her 
sisters, and would often allow this to appear in her 
conversations with Mme. Campan. 

On one occasion she showed her some letters 
from the Queen of Naples, in which the latter 
related to her sister the annoyance then being caused 
her by the interference and impertinence of the 
court of Spain respecting her minister, Acton, about 
whom reports and suspicions which both Maria 
Carolina and Marie Antoinette declared to be 
outrageous appeared to be rife. 

Her father-in-law, Carlos III., had actually sent 
an insolent Spaniard named Las Casas to persuade 
her to dismiss a minister who was invaluable to her 
and to the country, and when she had condescended 
to explain to this emissary the real state of affairs, 
and declared that, in order to prove to the Spanish 
King that the superior capacity of Acton as Prime 
Minister could alone be the reason for the favour she 
showed him, she would send his portrait and his bust 
to Spain, he had dared to reply that that would be 
useless trouble, for it was well known that a man's 
ugliness did not prevent his success, and that the 
King of Spain had too much experience not to know 
that the caprices of a woman were inexplicable. 
This insolence had thrown Maria Carolina into 
such a paroxysm of agitation and anger that a 



Ii8 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

miscarriage had been the result ; and by the request 
of his sister-in-law Louis XVI. had intervened as 
mediator between the courts of Naples and Madrid. 

The time was now rapidly approaching when 
Maria Carolina should attain the triumph of her 
most cherished plans for the exaltation of her 
children ; but amidst her rejoicings were mingled 
the uneasiness and fear which foreshadowed those 
terrible calamities so soon to change the brilliant 
sunshine of her life into darkness and ruin. 

They were on the eve of the French Revolution ; 
indeed, it had already begun by the sack of the 
Bastille and the murder of its brave defenders, the 
horrible scenes at Versailles, and the return to Paris 
of the King and Queen, prisoners in their own 
capital. 

Still, nobody at Naples realised or dreamed of the 
fearful tragedies that were to follow, and Maria 
Carolina, deeply sympathising with her most dearly 
loved sister, reviled the weakness and cowardice of 
Louis XVL 

Already the stream of fugitives which later on 
poured out of France into every other country had 
begun to flow. Many who were especially marked 
out for the hatred of the revolutionists foresaw the 
times of peril at hand, and, wishing to get away 
before it was too late, were already leaving France, 
and kept arriving with gloomy accounts of the state 
of affairs there. Amongst others, the beautiful and 
gifted artist, Mme.Vigee Le Brun, whose royalist prin- 
ciples and sympathies had begun to excite the sinister 
attention of the brutal mob, had fled disguised as an 
oiivriere, with her child, a single attendant, and only 



MARIA CAROLINA 119 

just money enough to take her to Rome. Having 
spent some months there and having easily restored 
her financial prosperity by painting the portraits of 
all the most distinguished people in Roman society, 
she arrived at Naples, where, delighted with its 
enchanting life and surpassing beauty, she decided 
to remain for a time. Mme. Le Brun was feted, 
admired, and popular at Naples, as she had been at 
Paris and Rome, and it was, as usual, the supreme 
fashion to have a portrait painted by her. 

The Queen desired the French Ambassador, the 
Baron de Talleyrand, to announce that she wished 
her to paint those of her two eldest daughters, which 
command she of course hastened to obey. 

The well-known devotion of the great artist to the 
unfortunate Marie Antomette was an additional 
passport to the favour of Maria Carolina, who must 
have felt the deepest and most melancholy interest 
in one who had so lately been with the sister whom, 
in spite of all the long years of separation, she still 
loved with unchanging affection. 

The death of the Emperor Joseph had just taken 
place, and the Queen was now preparing for a 
hurried journey to Vienna in order to arrange with 
her second brother, Leopold, the marriages they 
had planned for their children. Mme. Le Brun 
says that when on her way through Italy she was 
presented to another sister of the Queens of France 
and Naples, Amalie, Infanta of Parma, she was in 
deep mourning for their brother, the Emperor 
Joseph. She remarks that *' the Infanta, sister of 
Marie Antoinette, was much older than our Queen 
and possessed neither her beauty nor grace. Her 



120 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

rooms were all hung with black, and she looked like 
a shadow ; all the more as she was very thin and 
pale. She rode every day on horseback ; her way of 
living and her manners were like those of a man. 
Altogether I was not charmed with her, although 
she received me extremely well." 

Of Maria Carolina she says : 

"The Queen of Naples, without being so pretty 
as her younger sister, the Queen of France, reminded 
me very much of her ; her face looked tired, but 
one could still see that she had been beautiful ; her 
hands and arms were perfect in form and colour. 
This Princess, of whom so much evil has been said 
and written, was of an affectionate nature, very 
simple in her private life ; her generosity was 
truly royal. . . . 

" The Queen of Naples had a lofty character and 
superior talents. She alone bore all the weight of 
the government. The King would not reign ; he 
was nearly always at Caserta, where he occupied 
himself with manufactories, of which the work- 
women employed were said to compose his 
seraglio." 

"I recollect," she continues, "that when the 
Queen returned [from Vienna] she said to me : 
^l have made a successful journey. I have just 
settled with great satisfaction two marriages for my 
daughters.' " ^ 

During the absence of the Queen, Mme. Le Brun 

painted the Prince Royal and the Princess Teresa ; 

she began also a portrait of the second Princess, 

Ludovica, but found her so plain and the grimaces 

^ " Souvenirs de Mme. Vigee Le Brun." 



MARIA CAROLINA 121 

she made so ugly that she never finished the 
picture. 

Maria Carolina had indeed made a successful 
journey and splendid provision for the future of 
her children. Her eldest daughter was to marry 
the eldest son of the Emperor Leopold, as that 
young Prince had now become a widower ; while 
the second son was to marry her second daughter 
and succeed his father as Grand-duke of Tuscany. 
A daughter of the Emperor, the Archduchess 
Clementine, was to be affianced to the Prince 
Royal of Naples. 

As she passed through Rome on her way back 
the Queen met Mme. Le Brun, who had just 
returned there after finishing all the portraits she 
had engaged to paint at Naples. But as she wished 
to have her own picture done by that celebrated 
artist she insisted upon her returning there at once, 
which Mme. Le Brun consented to do, and the 
result was the magnificent portrait now in the 
Museo Nazionale of Naples, in which the likeness 
to the unfortunate Queen of France may be clearly 
traced. The heat was now so great that during one 
sitting both Mme. Le Brun and the Queen fell 
asleep.^ 

Late in the summer the King, the Queen, and 
the whole of the royal family set out on their 
journey to Austria for the weddings of the 
two eldest Princesses and the coronation of the 
Emperor. 

The King and Queen travelled as Count and 
Countess di Castellamare ; as they left Naples 

» Ibid. 



122 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

the lazzaroiii crowded their way, reproaching 
Ferdinando with cries of disapproval, and entreat- 
ing him not to stay long away from them. On 
August 28th they arrived at Fiume amidst the 
thunder of guns and every sign of public rejoicing, 
and were met there by Leopold, King of Hungary, 
Bohemia, &c. (for his election to the imperial 
throne had not yet taken place), and by the 
Archduchess Elisabeth ; the Archduchess Marianne 
had died the year before. 

After this meeting the royal family and court 
proceeded to Trieste and thence to Vienna, where 
they arrived on September 14th, and live days later 
the betrothal of the Archduchess Clementine to 
the Prince Royal of Naples ^ and the marriages of 
his sisters to the Crown Prince Franz and the 
Grand-duke Ferdinand of Tuscany were celebrated 
with great pomp and splendour at the Hofburg 
Capelle, all Vienna being illuminated in their 
honour.2 

Next came the imposing ceremonies and festivi- 
ties connected with the election and coronation of 
the Emperor, which had never before been so 
magnificent as for this, the last but one of the 
Emperors elected to bear that ancient title.s 

While the election was going on, Leopold waited 
at Aschaffenburg, and on October 5th made his 
entry into Frankfort with the imperial family, the 
Electors and the court. Sumptuous banquets were 

' The Prince Royal of Naples was then thirteen years old. 
= Helfert. 

3 The dissolution of the old German Empire took place under 
his successor, who was henceforth only Emperor of Austria. 










U 8 



^ 2 



MARIA CAROLINA 123 

offered to the imperial family and royal personages, 
amongst the most splendid of the entertainments 
being the great supper and dejeuner given by the 
Elector of Treves on board his state barge, moored 
on the river Main, and, as well as that of the 
Elector of Cologne, briUiantly illuminated. 

The coronation took place on October 12th, 
and on the i6th the Emperor, his family and 
court returned to Vienna. The King and Queen 
of Naples remained for eight months with their 
Austrian relations, and this time was to Maria 
Carolina one of much happiness, though disturbed 
by anxiety about her sister Antoinette, disquieting 
rumours respecting the state of affairs in France 
and doubts as to the prospects and even safety of 
the royal family continuing to reach Vienna. But 
to be in her beloved Austria, amid the scenes of her 
childhood, was always delightful to Carolina, and 
although she missed so many of those who had 
been dear to her, there were others remaining to 
welcome her in those familiar haunts. She had 
still her sisters Christine and Elisabeth, her favourite 
brother was now on the throne, and her own posi- 
tion as a reigning sovereign and mother of the 
future Empress was more powerful and illustrious 
than ever. 

Her son-in-law, the Crown Prince, was very fond 
of her ; he used to call her ^^ mother-in-law and 
threefold aunt."^ The happiness, exalted position, 
and splendid future of the most beloved of her 
daughters seemed secure ; the Grand-duchy of 
Tuscany was a magnificent provision for Ludovica, 

* " Dreifache Xante." 



124 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

and she had the Austrian daughter-in-law she 
desired instead of the Spaniard to whom she 
objected. 

The Emperor Leopold was much more popular, 
especially in Hungary and Bohemia, than his 
brother Joseph had been ; the unpopular rule of 
the latter, who had never been crowned King of 
those countries, had nearly lost them both to the 
house of Habsburg. The Netherlands were in 
revolt and must be won back ; in fact, the throne 
of the Emperor was beset with anxieties and difB- 
culties from which he had been free during the 
twenty-five years of his wise and peaceful govern- 
ment of his grand-duchy of Tuscany. 

The King and Queen of Naples accompanied 
him to Presburg, where he was crowned King of 
Hungary, and in that country he was received with 
an outburst of loyalty ; the popularity of the 
Emperor and imperial family including Ferdinando 
and Carolina, whose reforms at Naples were known 
and appreciated, especially the industrial colony 
established by the latter at San Leucio, near 
Caserta. 

This colony was an experiment of the Queen's on 
the new philanthropic plan — to establish silk- 
weaving. She had built factories, cottages, a 
church, a hospital, and a little villa in which she 
could stay when she came to visit the settlement. 
Foreign workmen were engaged to teach the best 
way of working the silk, and excellent though 
somewhat minute regulations made for the welfare 
and good behaviour of the inhabitants of the 
colony, extending into the arrangement of mar- 



MARIA CAROLINA 125 

riages, the disposition of property, and even dress. 
It was, in fact, a community the organisation of 
which combined a sort of Christianised repubhc 
of Plato with the grandmotherly government of 
Maria Theresia. For many years the colony 
prospered exceedingly ; the manufactures were 
excellent, the people happy and contented, their 
numbers increasing steadily.^ 

Many and anxious were the consultations held 
between Leopold and Carolina respecting the 
measures to be taken for the rescue of their sister 
Antoinette. Their hope was in a coalition of 
nations against France. They could among them- 
selves reckon on the Empire and the principal 
Italian Powers ; the King of Spain, weak and 
contemptible as he was, could scarcely refuse to 
join in assisting the elder branch of his own 
family ; other allies might for various reasons be 
induced to enter the coalition, while the emigres 
dispersed all over Europe would flock into their 
ranks. 

So long as Carolina was by his side her courage, 
high spirit, and resolution spurred on her more 
peaceful and vacillating brother. 

But the time came when she must return with 
her husband to their own dominions, and passing 
through Venice on their way home they stayed for 



^ It was to this manufactory that Mme. Le Brun referred (p. 120), 
The colony of San Leucio was established after a visit paid in 1784 
by Ferdinando and Carolina to the Emperor Joseph at Vienna. 
The credit of it is always given by the calumniators of the Queen 
to Ferdinando, because the edict ran in his name, but it was 
organised and maintained under the supervision of Maria Carolina. 



126 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

a short time in Rome, where it was important for 
them to have an interview with the Pope, and 
where also were to be found Mesdames Adelaide 
and Victoire de France, the two last surviving 
daughters of Louis XV., who had made their 
escape from the dangers and horrors of their own 
country and taken refuge there. 

To part from her favourite daughter was hard for 
the Queen, for of all her children this one, her 
firstborn, had always been her especial joy and 
pride ; and in her she now saw the fulfilment of 
all her most ardent wishes and plans. This 
daughter was one day to wear the crown of the 
mother she had so adored, obeyed, and reverenced ; 
and as she had loved the great Empress, so Teresa 
loved and trusted her, and would in the same way 
be guided by her influence. 

She had now six children living, and was expect- 
ing another before long.i The Prince-Royal, who 
was too young to be married, returned with his 
family to Italy. 

The relations between the Vatican and Naples 
had not of late years been cordial, and Carolina 
was anxious to place them on a more satisfactory 
footing. 

During the pontificate of Clement XIII. the King, 
then barely of age, had incurred the indignation 
of that Pontiff by expelling the Jesuits from his 
dominions and confiscating their property, under 
the influence of Spain, then paramount at his court. 
Clement XIV. confirmed this proceeding by a brief, 
and thus patched up a reconciliation which only 
' Leopold was born 1790 and Carlo Alberto 1792. 




Pas VI. 



MARIA CAROLINA 127 

lasted a little while, as his pontificate was a short 
one, and with Pius VI., whose election Maria 
CaroHna had opposed, a constant succession of 
disputes and quarrels had gone on about the choice 
and investiture of bishops, about ecclesiastical laws, 
&c., culminating in the refusal of the King to 
continue the payment of the annual tribute of 
seven thousand golden ducats and a richly capari- 
soned white horse by which Naples acknowledged 
herself a vassal of Rome. 

Maria Carolina, however, was now resolved that 
this state of things should cease, and accordingly 
arranged that not only should they go to Rome and 
visit the Pope, but that additional emphasis should 
be given to their arrival by its being pretended to 
have been so hastened by their eagerness that they 
should reach the Vatican earlier than they were 
expected. All went smoothly; the King and Queen 
appeared, passed through the private entrance into 
the Vatican, and penetrated into the private apart- 
ments of Pio VI., who rose in feigned astonishment 
to receive them. The audience passed in the 
greatest harmony : the apologies and protestations 
of the Queen were graciously accepted, and anxious 
deliberations were held concerning the ominous 
and gloomy prospects that already overshadowed 
the horizon. 

The King and Queen of Naples were delighted 
with Rome and the splendid manner in which they 
were entertained there. 

But the Romans had a caricature of a conversa- 
tion supposed to have taken place between the 
Pope, the King and Queen, General Acton, and the 



128 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

Queen's confessor, with the devil in the corner of 
the picture : ^ 

What the Queen learned from Mesdames de 
France was anything but reassuring, and only 
increased the anxiety she already felt for the safety 
of her sister and her family. Mesdames Adelaide 
and Victoire had only just come away in time ; as 
it was, they had had the utmost difficulty, first in 
getting permission to leave at all, then in their 
journey. They had been stopped more than once 
on the road, and had been in constant danger and 
terror until they got over the frontier into the 
dominions of their nephew and niece, the King 
and Queen of Sardinia. Their youngest nephew, the 
Comte d'Artois, with his wife, had emigrated before 
them, and they bitterly regretted the obstinacy of 
their niece, Mme. Elisabeth, who, notwithstanding 
their entreaties, had refused to come with them, 
but persisted in remaining with her eldest brother, 
Louis XVI., to whom she was devoted. 

All this was very alarming, and the emigres, with 
whom Rome, and indeed every great city in Italy, 

* Pope : lo concede tutto. 
King : lo voglio tutto quel che vuole la Regina. 
Queen : lo voglio tutto. 
Acton : lo rubo tutto. 
Confessor: lo assolvo tutti. 
II Diavolo : lo porto via tutti. 

Pope : I yield all. 

King : I wish all the Queen wishes. 

Queen : I want all. 

Acton : I rob all. 

Confessor : I absolve all. 

The Devil : I carry away all. 

{Autobiography of Cornelia Knight. 






La Comtesse de Provence, 
Wife of Monsieur (afterwards Louis XVIIL) 



MARIA CAROLINA 129 

was now crowded, increased her fear and horror 
by the terrible histories of their sufferings and 
perils, and the misery which most of them were 
experiencing. 

Many were in agonies of suspense about the fate 
of their nearest and dearest relations ; others were 
mourning for the murder of those they loved best 
in the world ; most of them had lost the whole or 
the greater part of their fortune, and in many cases 
were in absolute destitution. 

That the King, Queen, and royal family should 
escape from France was the one aspiration of 
Mesdames and all the emigres, and though this was 
becoming more and more difhcult and dangerous, 
it is probable that it might have been accomplished 
and that all, or at any rate some of them, might 
have been saved, had it not been for the folly, 
obstinacy, and mismanagement which characterised 
their plans and their way of carrying them out. 

The Comte and Comtesse de Provence had just 
escaped separately, and the Comte and Comtesse 
d'Artois had emigrated while it was tolerably easy 
to get away, but the King and Queen had put off 
their flight until it was well-nigh impossible, having 
thrown away one opportunity after another which 
offered them safety. 

Already in the early days of trouble and danger 
Marie Antoinette had ordered Mme. de Tourzel to 
make preparations quietly for a sudden start from 
Versailles which would have saved them, but the 
King changed his mind and they stayed.^ 

Again, after the banquet of the gardes- du- corps at 
^ "Memoires de Mme. de Tourzel." 
10 



130 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

Versailles and the outburst of loyalty it called forth, 
when they were protected not only by the gardes- 
du-corps but by the chasseurs de Lorrame, the faith- 
ful Swiss guards, and a great part of the regiment de 
Flandre, what could have hindered their leaving 
Versailles that night, gaining the coast, and embark- 
ing for England ? Afterwards, when the furious, 
bloodthirsty mob was pouring into Versailles, as the 
King was out hunting, and the horses were actually 
being harnessed to the Dauphin's carriage, if the 
Queen with her children and Madame Elisabeth 
had had the presence of mind to get into the 
carriage and drive away, they could have joined 
the King and fled together. They would have had 
a start, as it would have been some time before it 
was discovered that they were really not going to 
return. 

But they never thought of it ! 

Between the 20th of June and the fatal loth of 
August there was a project for their escape 
separately. It was well arranged ; they were to be 
saved one at a time by those responsible for its 
execution. But it was put an end to by Marie 
Antoinette, who refused to be separated from the 
King and the Dauphin, ^ a decision which destroyed 
what must have been a very good chance of the 
latter being saved, and probably his sister, if not 
Madame Elisabeth, even supposing the King and 
Queen did not succeed in reaching the frontier 
unrecognised. They were, of course, so well known 
that they were less easy to disguise, but one cannot 

^ "Memoires de Louis XVIII., recueillis et mis en ordre par 
M. le Due de D ," t. v. p. 176. 



MARIA CAROLINA 131 

believe that, especially in those days, innocent of 
telegraphs, railways, and motors, it would not have 
been perfectly feasible to hide tw^o children and 
smuggle them out of the country without their 
being discovered. 

The tissue of mistakes and follies which led to 
such fatal results must have been maddening to 
Maria Carolina, who bitterly inveighed against the 
cowardly, contemptible indecision and obstinacy of 
her brother-in-law, Louis XVI., and when at last 
the attempt to escape was made and failed — as so 
ill-arranged and ill-executed a proceeding might be 
expected to do — her terror and indignation knew 
no bounds. 

The whole thing was a succession of errors and 
mismanagement, and yet it had almost succeeded, 
which certainly seems to prove that with proper 
care, reasonable precautions, and promptitude, they 
would have been saved. 

Of all the tragic stories in history there is none 
more pathetic and, one may say, none more pro- 
voking than that of Varennes. 

It was undoubtedly essential that those who had 
sufficient foresight to perceive what was coming, 
and had decided to save themselves and their 
families while there was yet time, should also save 
what was possible of their property, and conse- 
quently should make preparations beforehand by 
placing as much of their fortune as they could in 
foreign securities, and taking with them all their 
most valuable possessions that could be packed up 
and easily removed. 

But for those who had deferred their flight until 



132 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

the last moment, when their lives were in immediate 
danger — when, especially if they were in a con- 
spicuous position, they were surrounded with spies 
and every movement watched — it was too late for 
all such considerations. It was better to arrive 
penniless in a foreign country than to fall into the 
hands of the fiends whose thirst for murder, out- 
rage, and cruelty spared neither men, women, 
nor children. 

Therefore, the all-important matter was to avoid 
suspicion, which was certain to be aroused by the 
slightest appearance of preparation for a journey. 

But when, after waiting until their flight was 
most difficult and dangerous, the King resolved to 
attempt it, Marie Antoinette insisted upon making 
extensive preparations for their journey and resi- 
dence abroad. In March, 1791, she began to give 
orders for a complete troiisseau for herself and her 
children, which was to be packed and sent to one 
of her ladies, to whom she gave leave of absence to 
go to her estates in Arras. As this lady had also 
property across the frontier in Austrian territory, 
she was to hold herself in readiness to cross on 
pretence of going to her other estate and take the 
trunks with her, which, as she was in the habit of 
going from one property to the other, need not, the 
Queen said, excite any attention. 

In vain Mme. Campan, premiere femme de chambre 
de la Reine, represented to her royal mistress the 
additional and most unnecessary risk she was 
running. " The Queen of France," she observed, 
" would be able to get dresses and chemises where- 
ever she might be." 



MARIA CAROLINA 133 

It was useless. The Queen insisted, and Mme. 
Campan went out almost in disguise to buy the 
things, ordering six chemises here, six there, six 
elsewhere, and so on, trying so to break up and 
distribute the numbers of garments required as to 
avert suspicion. 

The eldest daughter of Mme. Campan's sister, 
who was about the size of Madame Royale, was 
measured for her clothes, and those of the Dauphin 
were made to fit the little son of Mme. Campan. 
When they were ready Mme. Campan packed and 
sent them addressed to the lady in question, who 
was to be ready at a moment's notice to start for 
Brussels or any other place indicated. 

The Queen also declared she must take her 
necessaire de voyage, or at least she must send it to 
her sister, the Archduchess Christine, who with her 
husband was now governing the Netherlands, and 
that to prevent suspicion she would pretend to send 
it her as a present. 

To this Mme. Campan opposed arguments and 
entreaties in vain. Nobody, she said, would believe 
the necessaire was given to the Archduchess, for all 
the Queen's household, which was full of spies, 
knew how fond she was of that ^' piece of furniture," 
which she had often declared would be most con- 
venient in travelling. The only concession she 
could obtain was that the Austrian charge d'affaires 
should be told to present himself at the Queen's 
toilet, and ask her in the hearing of her ladies and 
servants to order a necessaire exactly like it for the 
Archduchess Christine, who wanted one. 

The Queen accordingly gave the order as arranged. 



134 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

A month afterwards Mme. Campan went to inquire 
for the mcessaire and found that it would not be 
finished for six weeks ; upon which the Queen told 
her she could not wait for it, as they were to set off 
in June — it was now May — but that, having taken 
the precaution to order it in the presence of her 
household, there was no danger in declaring that 
the Archduchess was impatient, and that she would 
send her own instead. 

Again Mme. Campan remonstrated in vain. The 
necessaire was a large thing, cost 500 louis, and 
attracted attention, ' but finding it must be sent, 
Mme. Campan went about it as openly as possible, 
ordering all the contents to be taken out and no 
trace of perfume left, which the Archduchess 
Christine might not like. It was then sent to 
her.2 

She also helped the Queen pack up her diamonds, 
which were given to Leonard, the Queen's coiffeur, 
who took them to Brussels. 3 

All this time there was a spy in the Queen's 
household, a feimne de garde-robe, to whom Marie 
Antoinette had shown particular kindness, and who 
had long been in the pay of the radicals. 

She secretly possessed a second key to the private 
rooms of the Queen, by means of which she opened 
the door locked by the latter before the arrange- 

' It contained a whole silver toilet service, even a warming- 
pan. The Queen had it made in 1789 " in case of sudden flight." 

» Directly it was sent, a spy informed the Mayor of Paris that 
the Queen was preparing to depart ; her necessaire had already 
gone. 

3 These were the Queen's private jewels, and were afterwards 
restored to Madame Royale, Duchesse d'Angouleme (Campan). 



MARIA CAROLINA 135 

ment of the diamonds was finished and saw them 
lying about half-packed. She did not believe the 
story of the itecessaire for the Archduchess, and not 
only reported all these things to Gouvion, the aide- 
de-camp of Lafayette, whose mistress she was, but 
made a denunciation which was shown by the 
Mayor of Paris to the unfortunate Queen after her 
capture. 

The whole deplorable tale is well known, with 
its catalogue of mistakes and mismanagement and 
folly. 

The time necessary for the journey to Montmedy 
was miscalculated by M. Goguelat, who when 
making the journey reckoned the time in which 
it was performed in a light postchaise with no 
coiirrier. When it was too late, they discovered to 
their cost that a large, heavy travelling carriage with 
a courtier took more than two hours longer. This 
was probably fatal, and was added to first by the 
carriage being kept waiting nearly an hour, and 
then by the King insisting upon getting out and 
walking up a hill, which delayed them still further. 
When the cumbersome party, which included not 
only the five royal fugitives but two or three ladies 
of their household, arrived at the place where 
M. Goguelat and his escort of hussars was to have 
met them they were three hours late, and no one 
was to be seen. 

Goguelat and his troop had come to the appointed 
place, but after waiting in vain for the arrival of the 
royal party, finding their presence was attracting 
the attention of the peasants, Goguelat formed the 
fatal resolution to retire with his men, with whom 



136 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

he left the highroad and went by lanes and bridle- 
paths back to Varennes, in consequence of which 
he missed the fugitives, who, finding nobody there, 
drove forward hoping to meet them. 

At St. Menehould the King put his head out of 
the window and began to question the postmaster, 
and this act of supreme folly sealed their fate. 

The postmaster, Drouet, recognised him by his 
likeness on the coins and assignats, looked into the 
carriage, thought he recognised the Queen, saw by 
the numbers and ages of the party that the royal 
family must be there, and hurried before them by 
cross roads to Varennes, where he gave the alarm. 

At Varennes was Goguelat with his hussars, and 
here, it is said, fresh mistakes were made. If a 
message had been sent to M. de Bouille, who was 
waiting a little further on with a troop of horse, he 
would have rescued them and carried them safely 
over the frontier, now so near. 

Or Goguelat might have charged the hostile but 
not very powerful crowd at Varennes and carried 
them safely through, instead of consulting the King, 
who, of course, would not allow it. 

Of the miserable failure of the attempt and the 
captivity and danger of her sister and her family, 
Christine, Governess of the Netherlands, heard at 
Brussels, where she was hoping and waiting for 
them, and where Mme. Thibaut, one of the Queen's 
ladies who was to meet her there, arrived quite safely. 

The Comte and Comtesse de Provence, whose 
plans and proceedings had been so much more 
prudent and so much better managed, also arrived, 
overjoyed to meet each other, but filled with grief 



I' 




BoviLLi.. 



To face/). 136. 



MARIA CAROLINA 137 

and consternation at the catastrophe of which they 
immediately heard. The Archduchess Christine 
received them with the greatest kindness and sym- 
pathy, would not hear of their going to an inn, but 
lodged them in a dependance of her palace, from 
which latter, in consequence of the alarming state 
of things, she had removed most of the furniture. 
She lent them her grand appartement in which to 
receive the emigres, of whom Brussels was full, and 
who crowded to pay their respects to the Princes, 
for the Comte d'Artois, on hearing of the escape of 
his second brother, hurried to Brussels to see him. 

Besides Brussels and Coblentz, another great 
refuge of the emigre was Cologne, of which 
Maximilian, youngest brother of Maria Carolina, 
was Elector. 

He had latterly been the favourite son of his 
mother, the Empress, although anything more 
utterly unlike his brother Carl, their mother's first 
favourite, cannot well be imagined. For Maxi- 
milian, though merry, jovial, and good-natured, was 
stupid, plain, and very fat. 

When he went to visit his sister Marie Antoinette 
his awkwardness and mistakes made him perfectly 
ridiculous. When the great naturalist Buffon 
offered him a copy of his works, he said that he 
would not deprive him of it. When the pupils 
of a college were brought to perform their exercises 
before him, he said he would not give them that 
fatigue. Every one laughed at him, and he was 
called at Paris '' L'Archi-bete d'Autriche." He was, 
however, liked by the emigres, to whom he showed 
kindness and friendship at Cologne. 



CHAPTER IX 

Return to Naples — Leopold and Maria Carolina — State of Tuscany 
— Of Naples — The Queen's society — Awakening — Change of 
policy — The secret police — Warlike preparations — The French 
Ambassadors at Naples and Venice — Mme. Le Brun — Slanders 
against the Queen — San Gennaro — Lady Hamilton. 

WHEN Maria Carolina returned to Naples 
after a long sojourn in Austria, her ideas 
and policy had undergone an entire change. 

Hitherto it had been on philanthropic and 
philosophical principles that she had governed 
the Two Sicilies. Her government, like her brother 
Leopold's, was to a great extent a benevolent 
despotism, such as might have been expected from 
the children of Maria Theresia. 

They both believed implicitly, as they had 
been taught to believe, in the divine absolute 
right of the monarch over the people he was 
born to rule, and also in his responsibility for 
their welfare and happiness — that God had com- 
mitted them to his charge, and to God alone he 
was accountable for the manner in which he 
exercised the authority placed in his hands. 

And under the paternal rule of Leopold the 
Tuscans were prosperous, contented, and happy. 

The Italian historian, Botta, thus speaks of him : 
138 



MARIA CAROLINA 139 

" In 1765 the Grand-duke Leopold ascended 
the throne of Tuscany. This Prince can never 
be praised so much as to equal nearly what he 
deserved. . . . Before his time the Tuscan laws 
were partial, intricate, inconvenient, and improvi- 
dent . . . the criminal laws were insufficient and 
cruel, commerce was ill-protected, agriculture 
neglected, the soil was pestilential, property 
insecure, the public debt serious, taxes ruinous. 
To all this the good Leopold applied remedies. 
He abolished sinecures and privileged or incom- 
petent officials, and amongst other prerogatives 
some of those of the crown. . . . He suppressed 
the privileges of individuals, courts, and corpora- 
tions ; to everyone he gave equal rights and 
justice. . . . The result was in conformity to his 
pious intentions, for after the reforms of Leopold 
life was perfectly happy in Tuscany, manners 
and customs were good and cultivated, crimes 
were rare, and if committed were immediately 
punished ; the prisons were empty ; everything 
flourished." ^ 

* " Era stato assunto nel 1765 al trono di Toscana il Gran-duca 
Leopoldo. Questo Principe, il quale non si potra maitanto lodare, 
che non meriti molto piu. . . . Erano prima di Leopoldo le leggi di 
Toscana p&rziali, intricate, incommode, improvvide . . . Erano 
altresi leggi criminali crudeli, o insufficient!, un commercio male 
favorito, un' agricoltura non curata, un suolo pestilenziale, posses- 
sione mal sicure, coloni poveri, debito publico grave, dazj 
onerosissimi. A tutto pose rimedio il buon Leopoldo, Annullo i 
magistrati o superfiui o poco proficui. . . . Fu I'effetto conforme 
alle pie intenzioni ; poiche fu in Toscana una vita felicissima dopo 
le novita di Leopoldo ; i costumi non solo buoni ma gentili ; i 
delitti rarissimi, ne si tosto commessi che puniti ; le prigione 
vuote ; ogni cosa in ifiore. — " Storia d'ltalia," t. i. pp. 14, 16 
(Botta). 



140 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

In no part of Italy were the feudal rights more 
oppressive, the taxes more ruinous, and the laws 
worse than in the kingdom of the Two Sicilies. 

The arbitrary power of the nobles was a curse to 
the whole country, which was impoverished and 
crushed by the burden of extortion pressing upon 
it. The dime (or declme), the gabelle, the feudal 
service, the amount of taxation upon all crops, the 
tyrannical rights not only over every kind of 
game, but over the ovens, mills, and many other 
necessaries of life, the dazio exacted on entering 
their estates, the power of appointment of magis- 
trates and officials in town and country, all these 
made the nobles formidable not only to the people 
but to the crown. 

Such was the state of things until the middle 
of the eighteenth century, when Carlos III., an 
enlightened monarch, anxious to improve the 
condition of his subjects, began to introduce 
certain reforms by means of his minister Tanucci, 
which continued to progress after the majority of 
his son, Ferdinando IV., and when Tanucci re- 
signed had been eagerly carried on by the young 
Queen, who was anxious to follow in her govern- 
ment the example of her mother and her 
favourite brother, the Grand-duke of Tuscany. 

To none of them would the idea have occurred 
of granting their subjects any kind of self- 
government or voice in the conduct of affairs, 
their view of the relations between a ruler and 
his people being very much the same as those 
subsisting at that period between parents and 
children. On the one side affection, care, absolute 



MARIA CAROLINA 141 

authority, and the assumption that they must in all 
respects know better upon every subject than their 
sons and daughters, no matter of what age, and 
had the right to control and dispose of their 
lives and affections as they thought best. On the 
other side, love, reverence, implicit obedience, and 
unquestioning submission at any age to any com- 
mand, however unreasonable and whatever misery it 
might cause. 

Thus the children of the great Empress had 
obeyed her, and such was their idea of the proper 
relations between themselves and the people over 
whom they were called to reign. 

The new ideas so rapidly spreading not only 
in France but in Italy, where Filangieri, Pagano, 
Conforti, Cirillo, and others were high in the 
favour and confidence of the Queen, inspired her 
with an ardent desire to relieve the sufferings and 
improve the material and moral condition of her 
subjects ; but, like many others, she had failed to 
perceive any but the plausible, benevolent side 
of all this new philosophy, until her eyes had been 
rudely opened to the real meaning of the specious 
arguments and insidious doctrines of the set she 
had admired and protected. 

It was a terrible awakening, and, especially with 
a character like that of Maria Carolina, the reaction 
was sure to be proportionably violent. So these 
were the results to which all the cant and jargon 
about the worship of nature and humanity and the 
rights of man were to lead. Within the last year or 
two the radical party had increased and advanced 
with fearful rapidity, the unpractical philanthropists 



142 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

and visionary theorists who really believed in the 
sentiments and ideas they proclaimed were con- 
temptuously brushed aside by the mass of their 
followers, to whom fraternity and equality meant 
getting possession of other people's property and 
a state of riot, spoliation, and destruction ; while 
liberty, as understood by its ardent votaries, was 
an unrestrained course of outrage, violence, lust, 
and murder. 

Already France, the headquarters of the radical 
and revolutionary party, was such a scene of 
bloodshed and crime that any decent person would 
have been safer in the most savage countries in 
Africa than there ; already the Queen trembled for 
the lives of her beloved sister, her stupid, well- 
meaning brother-in-law, and their innocent 
children; already in Italy, in Naples itself, there 
was a growing party holding the blasphemous and 
infamous doctrines which threatened her own 
family, kingdom, and life. 

Henceforth her opinions and views were abso- 
lutely changed ; her chief endeavours were to 
protect herself, her kingdom, and those dear to her 
from the horrors which threatened them, and, so far 
as she could, to avenge the sufferings of her friends 
and punish the wretches who had inflicted them. 

After her return to Naples, where she was wel- 
comed back with delight and rejoicing, the liberal 
leaders found their influence at court was at an end. 
Radical and philosophical professors of the uni- 
versity, socialist lawyers, doctors, and writers were 
no longer invited to the palace. The discussion of 
the theories and principles which were leading to 



MARIA CAROLINA 143 

the destruction of religion, property, and life was 
not permitted in the society of the Queen. 

The bishops appointed to vacant sees were now 
men of strong conservative and Catholic principles ; 
the authority of the Church was supreme over the 
schools, whose secular tendencies, which the Queen 
had hitherto in some degree encouraged, were now 
sternly repressed. 

It was evident that a strong party in favour of the 
revolutionary doctrines already existed in Naples ; 
and that this party, as in France, comprised, 
besides professional men, merchants, and other 
members of the middle class, a certain number 
of nobles and gentlemen, mostly young, enthusi- 
astic, and credulous ; some actuated by benevolent 
and fantastic visions of a Utopian, impossible 
future, others thirsting for the saturnalia of plunder 
and bloodshed which would be the obvious fulfil- 
ment of their principles and projects. 

In order to discover and counteract their plots 
Maria Carolina placed each of the twelve wards of 
the city under a police-magistrate chosen by the 
government, instead of aldermen formerly elected 
by the citizens, the Chief Commissioner being the 
Cavaliere Luigi dei Medici, a young noble of 
courage, energy, and ambition, of whose loyalty 
she felt confident. She also organised a numerous 
body of secret police belonging to all classes, from 
those highly placed at court and in society to the 
lowest frequenters of the popular resorts. Those of 
rank and social position brought their intelligence 
to the Queen herself at night, and were received 
by her in a room called the sala oscura ; by these 



144 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

means she was kept informed and warned of the 
conspiracies, seditious proceedings, and various 
dangers with which she was beset. 

The philosophers and radicals whom she had 
ceased to favour joined in these agitations, their 
uneasiness and alarm being increased by the various 
decisive measures taken by the Queen, and most of 
all by the evident preparation for war going on 
vigorously under her superintendence and Acton's 
in docks and arsenals. Ships were fitted out and 
manned, new regiments formed, a corps of Swiss 
and Dalmatian soldiers joined the army of Naples ; 
everywhere in pulpit and confessional were to be 
heard denunciations against the murders and 
blasphemies going on in France.^ 

Except by the members of the radical party, 
France was at this time hated at Naples. French 
subjects complained of the difficulties made about 
their passports and the persecutions of the police, 
and the relations between the two governments 
became more and more strained. 

Louis XVI. was known to be a mere cipher in the 
hands of the Jacobins ; but when the news of his 
arrest arrived at Naples it was decided to break 
with France, and this resolution was announced 
by Acton to the French Ambassador, the Baron de 
Talleyrand, brother of the famous Archbishop of 
Reims of revolutionary celebrity, but absolutely 
opposed to him in principles and politics. 

He had sent in his resignation on learning what 
had taken place at Paris, and wisely decided to 
remain as a private person at Naples, where he 

^ " The Queen of Naples and Lord Nelson " (Jeaffreson). 



MARIA CAROLINA 145 

joined the camp of the emigres and was feted and 
caressed by the court and royal family. 

The Neapolitan government refused to receive 
Cacault as charge d'affaires, and that individual 
refused to leave Naples. 

Maria Carolina was beside herself with anger and 
apprehension. She cursed the Revolution^ showed 
more and more intense sympathy and affection to 
the emigres, and wrote to the Comte de Bombelles, 
French Ambassador at Venice, who had refused to 
sign the new Constitution, and by his disinterested 
loyalty had reduced his family to poverty and 
difficulties. She congratulated him on his noble 
conduct, and, adding that all sovereigns were bound 
to recognise such fidelity, she begged him to accept 
from her a pension of twelve thousand francs. Nor 
did her gratitude stop there ; the future of his 
children was secured, and Mme. Le Brun, who 
relates this anecdote in her ^^ Souvenirs," remarks : 

'' Three of the children of M. de Bombelles now 
occupy brilliant positions in the world. The eldest. 
Count Louis de Bombelles, is Austrian Minister in 
Switzerland ; the second. Count Charles, is Grand- 
Master of the household of Marie Louise ; and the 
third. Count Henri, is Austrian Minister at Turin. 

'' Besides this generous action of the Queen of 
Naples," continues Mme. Le Brun, ^^ I have known 
various others which do honour to her heart ; she 
loved to relieve misery, and would not hesitate to 
climb to a fifth floor to bring help to sufferers. 
. . . This is the Wirago' about whom, under 
Bonaparte, the most infamous and obscene en- 
gravings were exhibited in the streets. They must 



146 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

needs calumniate her, they wanted her crown. It 
is well known that she was betrayed even by those 
whom she had always honoured with her friendship 
and confidence. The woman she loved most cor- 
responded with the conqueror, who, by vile means, 
succeeded at last in dethroning the sister of Marie 
Antoinette to put Mme. Murat in her place. . . . 

^^ When the Queen heard that I was preparing to 
return to Rome, she sent for me and said, ^ I am 
very sorry Naples cannot keep you.' 

" Then she offered me her little house on the sea- 
shore ; but I was longing to see Rome again, and I 
declined with all the gratitude with which her great 
kindness inspired me. At the last, when she had 
paid me magnificently, and when I went to take a 
final leave of her, she gave me a beautiful old lacquer 
box with her cipher in diamonds, worth ten thousand 
francs. 

*' Magnificent as is the country I was leaving, I 
should not have liked to spend my life there. In 
my opinion Naples ought to be seen, like an en- 
chanting magic-lantern, but to pass one's days there 
one must have become accustomed to the idea, one 
must have overcome the terror inspired by the 
volcano. One also reflects that all who inhabit 
the regions around live in constant expectation of 
an eruption or an earthquake, without speaking of 
the plague, which in the hot weather exists only two 
or three leagues off ; and that the lakes in which 
they steep the flax give forth a pestilential air which 
brings fever and death to the inhabitants of this 
beautiful land. 

''AH these are serious drawbacks, it must be 



MARIA CAROLINA 147 

admitted ; but if they did not exist, who would 
not wish to Hve in this delicious country ? 

'^ The Chevalier Hamilton, who had been English 
Ambassador at Naples for nearly twenty years, was 
perfectly well acquainted with the manners and 
customs of the best society of that city. 

*' I must confess that what he told me was not at 
all favourable to the Neapolitan noblesse^ but since 
that time everything is doubtless much changed. 
He told me a thousand stories of the greatest ladies, 
which, as they were too scandalous, I refrain from 
repeating. According to him, the Neapolitan women 
were surprisingly ignorant : they read nothing, 
although they pretended to read ; for one day, when 
calling upon one of them and finding her with a 
book in her hand, he saw as he approached her thai 
she was holding it upside down. Destitute of any 
kind of instruction, many of them, he said, did not 
know that any country but Naples existed, and their 
only occupation was love, the object of which most 
of them frequently changed. 

"What I could judge of myself was that the 
Neapolitan ladies gesticulate very much in speaking. 
They take no exercise, and only go out in a carriage, 
never on foot. Every night they go to the theatre, 
where they receive visits in their boxes ; as they 
only listen to the aria, it i^ there that conversations 
are carried on ; much less comfortably, it seems to 
me, than in a salon, 

" If one wishes to observe the expression of 
Neapolitan faces, one should go on to the road 
that leads to the church of San Gennaro, the day 
of the miracle of the sainte ampoule. The inhabitants 



148 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

of Naples and its environs flock in crowds along 
this road ; carriages are stationed on the right, 
pedestrians on the left. Anxiety and impatience 
were so strangely depicted upon their countenances 
as the miracle was a little delayed, that I could 
scarcely prevent myself from laughing, when for- 
tunately I was warned to keep calm, if I did not 
want to be stoned by the crowd. At last it was 
announced that the miracle had taken place, after 
which not a face was to be seen that did not express 
joy and rapture with such vivacity and vehemence 
that it is impossible to describe the scene." ^ 

Into the life of Maria Carolina about this time 
came another and a very different woman from the 
gifted, brilliant, charming and high-souled Mme. Le 
Brun. 

So much has been lately written about Lady 
Hamilton, formerly known as Emma Hart, but 
whose real name, according to the careful and 
exhaustive account in that interesting work, ^'The 
Queen of Naples and Lord Nelson," 2 was Amy 
Lyon, that it is unnecessary here to go into much 
detail respecting her very reprehensible early career, 
which in no way concerns the present history. 

It is enough to say that she was the daughter of a 
blacksmith in Cheshire, that she went as a young 
girl into domestic service, that she was exti"aordin- 
arily beautiful, and became the mistress of Sir 
Henry Fetherstonehaugh, with whom she led a 
rackety life, during which she is supposed to have 
had other lovers ; that she quarrelled with Sir 

* " Souvenirs de Mme. Vigee Le Brun." 
» J. Cordy Jeaffreson. 



MARIA CAROLINA 149 

Henry Fetherstonehaugh, spent two years as model 
for ^^ Hygeia«" in the lecture-rooms of a certain 
Dr. Graham, and then became the mistress of Mr. 
Greville/ to whom she was really and strongly 
attached, and with whom she led a quiet life for 
four years, during which he tried to educate her ; 
not, it would seem, with much success, for she 
could never write a letter even tolerably correctly, 
and in other respects remained ignorant and un- 
cultivated in mind. So at least she appears to have 
been, judging from her letters, of which many exist, 
and none of which, either in spelling, expressions, 
or composition, are in the least like those of a 
refined, educated person. 

During the time she lived with Charles Greville, 
however, her musical talents were cultivated, greatly 
to her advantage, as she had a beautiful voice ; she 
was also accustomed, while under his protection, to 
associate with his friends, for the most part men of 
the world, distinguished, intellectual, and artistic, 
in whose society she acquired a certain amount of 
polish and good-breeding, which completed the 
attraction of her astonishing beauty and grace and 
the natural vivacity of her manners. 

To Romney, who was a friend of Charles Greville's, 
she sat frequently, and that great artist appears to 
have been fascinated not only by her loveliness but 
by the charm of her manner and disposition. She 
had, says Mme. Le Brun, a wonderful power of 
acting, and not only copying the gestures and voices 
of the actors she saw on the stage, but of giving to 

* Second son of Francis, first Earl of Warwick of the Greville 
family. 



150 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

her features the expression of joy, grief , remorse, 
&c., and of posing in attitudes exactly in accordance 
with any character or sentiment she desired to 
portray. 

Except as regards her extraordinary beauty, Mme. 
Le Brun, however, does not appear to have shared 
the somewhat unreasonable admiration for Lady 
Hamilton which appears in the pages of some of 
her modern biographers. On the contrary, at the 
time when she painted her portrait at Naples she 
remarks in her " Souvenirs " : 

" Lady Hamilton n'avait point d'esprit, quoi- 
qu'elle fut excessivement moqueuse et denigrante, 
au point que ces deux defauts etaient les seuls 
mobiles de sa conversation ; mais elle avait aussi 
de I'astuce, et elle s'en est servie pour se faire 
^pouser. Elle manquait de tournure et s'habillait 
tres-mal, des qu'il s'agissait de faire une toilette 
vulgaire." ^ 

At the end of four years Charles Greville, having 
become tired of the state of affairs, sent Emma, 
accompanied by her mother, a harmless, unpre- 
tentious woman, who lived with her, to his uncle 
at Naples, on pretence of giving her a better 
opportunity of studying music, promising to join 
her there during the autumn. 

Sir William Hamilton lodged the mother and 
daughter at the British Embassy until the apart- 
ment he had engaged for them was ready, placed 
a carriage, boat, and servants at their disposal, 
loaded them with presents and attentions, and soon 
made it very apparent that he was deeply in love 

^ " Souvenirs de Mme. Vigee Le Brun." 



MARIA CAROLINA 151 

with Emma. But being much attached to Charles 
Greville, whom she hoped to marry, and in whose 
love she believed, she refused the offers of his 
uncle, and wrote many urgent letters imploring 
him to come to her. 

Finding her entreaties disregarded, Emma had 
recourse to threats. She declared that she would 
never become the mistress of Sir William Hamilton, 
as Greville soon tried to persuade her to do ; but 
that '^ It is not your interest to disoblige me, for you 
don't know what power I have heai\ Ondy I will 
never be his mistress. If you affront me, I will 
make him marry me." 

Greville, however, neither came to Naples nor 
answered the letter, and about a month after having 
written it Emma became the mistress of his uncle, 
over whom she used her influence to such effect 
that when a few years had elapsed Sir William 
Hamilton married her during a visit to England, 
and in 1791 she returned to Naples as his wife. 



CHAPTER X 

Early career of Emma Hart — Arrives at Naples — Her life there — 
Marries Sir William Hamilton — Prosperous and splendid 
career of the Queen — The turn of the tide — Death of the 
Emperor Leopold and of the King of Sweden — Danger to 
Naples — Disputes with France — The French Ambassador — 
Evil news from Paris — On the brink of war — A patched-up 
peace — The Ambassador of the Republic — Threatened bom- 
bardment of Naples — Life at Naples — News of the murder of 
Louis XVL — Outrageous conduct of French Ambassador — 
His reception at a fete at court — He is recalled — Attempt to 
save the Queen and Madame Elisabeth. 

THE strange intimacy which arose between this 
adventuress and the Queen of Naples did 
infinite harm to the reputation of Maria CaroHna, 
gave colour to the infamous slanders and calumnies 
which her enemies delighted to invent and circulate, 
and aroused no lasting gratitude in the w^oman 
herself, who, after professing for years the most 
vehement attachment to the Queen, by whose notice 
she w^as so flattered and delighted, changed her 
mind when she found she could not get a pension 
from her, and in after years made an abominable 
and absolutely groundless accusation against her 
simply to obtain a small sum of money.^ 

* "The Queen of Naples and Lady Hamilton" (Jeaffreson). Years 
after the death of Nelson, Lady Hamilton, reduced to poverty by 

152 




Lady Hamilton as " Nature. 
After the painting by Romney. 



To face p. 153. 



MARIA CAROLINA 153 

Emma Hart arrived in Naples in 1786, and 
spent five years and a half there before marrying 
Sir William Hamilton, living under his protection, 
but in an apartment with Mrs. Cadogan, as she 
called her mother, and being generally supposed to 
be studying for the stage. 

Her remarkable beauty made a great sensation in 
Naples, and the Queen was anxious to see her, 
more especially because the King had taken a fancy 
to her, and besieged her with attentions which she 
was too prudent to encourage, as her great desire 
was to be received, or at any rate noticed, by the 
Queen. 

Maria Carolina gratified her curiosity by desiring 
a Neapolitan prince, who was a friend of Emma 
Hart's, to walk with her during a promenade one 
Sunday, so near that she might see her, and was 
greatly impressed by her beauty. She gave no 
cause for scandal except by her connection with 
the English Ambassador, but lived quietly and 
harmlessly, occupying herself with music and the 
society of the many men and few women who 
visited her, and continued to behave with entire 
discretion towards the King, in spite of his open 
admiration. 

He would sit in his boat with his hat off while 
his musicians serenaded her, but even if she had 

her own extravagance and folly, declared on one occasion that 
her daughter Horatia was the daughter of the Queen of Naples. 
There was not the slightest ground for so atrocious a slander. 
There had never been the slightest idea of love between the Queen 
and Nelson, and over and over again, in speech and letters, she 
had asserted her to be her own child. Both she and Nelson spoke 
of and to the child as father and mother. 



154 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

been so inclined, Emma Hart was far too astute not 
to perceive that to be the mistress of Ferdinando, 
with his never-ending love intrigues and his sub- 
servience to the Queen, would not be nearly so 
much to her advantage as the approbation of Maria 
Carolina, the protection of Sir William Hamilton, 
and the probable achievement of becoming his 
wife. 

She played her part so well that the Queen 
gradually proceeded to show her some distant signs 
of favour, and to encourage the great ladies of the 
court to do the same, and even to notice her 
privately. To many of them her want of instruc- 
tion would, according to what is known of their 
own ignorance and frivolity, have been no drawback, 
but she could not, of course, be presented at court 
until after her marriage. 

For some time after she and her mother removed 
into the English Embassy very few either Neapolitan 
or foreign ladies were to be seen at her parties, but 
gradually she became the fashion ; the Duchess of 
Argyll, nee Elizabeth Gunning, took her up. Lady 
Elcho did the same, and it began to be said, 
especially by those who wished to think so, that 
she was secretly married to Sir William Hamilton. 
To the Queen it was a matter of the greatest impor- 
tance to secure the friendship of the English 
Ambassador, and to do so she would have made 
much greater sacrifices than to receive a beautiful, 
attractive woman, whatever might be her morals; 
for England was her great hope in the crusade 
against France, in which her whole heart and soul 
were now chiefly absorbed. 



MARIA CAROLINA 155 

In January, 1791, while the King and Queen were 
still in Austria, Sir William Hamilton made the 
experiment of a great concert and ball at the 
English Embassy, at which the honours were done 
by Emma Hart. It was a complete success, being 
attended by all the diplomatic and court set, and 
Emma Hart felt that she had attained one, at any 
rate, of the three objects for which she had been 
working : she had become a ^' personage " at 
Naples ; she had also probably effected her second 
project, and made herself capable of winning a 
position in the musical and theatrical profession in 
case she were again thrown upon her own resources. 
This, however, did not appear to be likely ; on the 
contrary, she was about to realise her crowning 
ambition and triumph. 

After the return of the royal family in the spring, 
Sir William Hamilton left Naples for a visit to Eng- 
land, before which he had long and important con- 
sultations with the Queen upon the threatening 
aspect of political affairs. The European Powers 
were gathering slowly for the overthrow of the 
French revolutionists. The Emperor Leopold, the 
King of Prussia, the Duke of Saxony, the Grand- 
duke of Tuscany, the Empress of Russia, were pre- 
paring their forces, and the chivalrous Gustavus III., 
King of Sweden, eagerly offered to lead the allied 
host to Paris. 

How Maria Carolina pushed on her own pre- 
parations, how ardently she sympathised and longed 
for the strife and victory, for the rescue of her sister 
and the punishment of her persecutors, and how 
she pleaded for the help of England, for the fleet 



156 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

of England, in the coming crisis, one can well 
imagine. 

Sir William left Naples in the early summer, as 
also did Emma Hart, who returned with him as 
Lady Hamilton, and as such was formally presented 
to the Queen. 

She had had plenty of gaiety, admiration, and 
social success in London, where her old friend 
Romney had been delighted to see her again, but 
where Queen Charlotte had refused to receive her ; 
but what was of the deepest interest to Maria 
Carolina, she had stopped in Paris and had been 
admitted into the presence of Marie Antoinette. 

Shortly after her return she dined at the palace of 
Caserta in company with Lady Malmesbury, who 
wrote to her sister. Lady Elliott, that the Queen had 
received Lady Hamilton very kindly and that all the 
English meant to be civil to her. And this was the 
beginning of her friendship with Maria Carolina.^ 

Hitherto the life of the Queen of Naples had 
been a long course of uninterrupted splendour and 
prosperity. 

Daughter of an Emperor and Empress, brought 
up by devoted parents in state and magnificence 
under the shadow of the mightiest throne in 
Christendom, surrounded by young brothers and 
sisters, carefully and religiously educated under the 
supervision of such a mother as the great Empress, 
called at sixteen to wear a crown and rule a 
kingdom, at thirty-eight she could look back upon 
such a career of enjoyment, success, and splendour 
as falls to the lot of few v/omen. 

» ** The Queen of Naples and Lord Nelson " (Jeaffreson). 



MARIA CAROLINA 157 

To the marriage she so dreaded she had quickly 
become reconciled ; the husband forced upon her 
was almost immediately her slave^ and in spite of 
the difference in their tastes she had soon found she 
could get on very well with him. Her home was in 
one of the most enchanting regions of the earth, her 
court a constant scene of pleasure, gaiety, and 
luxury, her life filled with occupation and interests 
of the highest importance, her government wise and 
successful, she herself admired and popular, her 
children a source of unfailing delight to her ; and 
now the splendid marriages of the three eldest had 
fulfilled her dearest wishes and satisfied her loftiest 
ambition. But she had reached the turning-point : 
from henceforth the tide of prosperity which 
had flowed so steadily began to ebb, and the 
clouds which for some time had hung threateningly 
upon the distant horizon gathered around until 
they overwhelmed her in a flood of calamities as 
extraordinary as the happiness and magnificence of 
her former life. 

The King of France, having signed the Constitu- 
tion which reduced him to the position of a puppet, 
and recovered a semblance of liberty, sent circulars 
to stop the movements of the foreign armies collect- 
ing to deliver him. The King of Naples declared 
that he would suspend his opinion until the King 
was free, and the rest of the sovereigns replied in 
the same strain. But there were differences and 
dissensions amongst them : Venice and Lombardy 
would not join the Italian league ; Spain hung back ; 
the Emperor Leopold, after the communication of 
the King of France, sent back to their quarters the 



158 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

army he had collected ; ^ England and Russia held 
aloof ; Prussia would not act alone ; only the gallant 
King of Sweden and the Queen of Naples were now 
as ever ready and willing to fight. 

But they were powerless alone, and as the months 
passed on, amidst the cares of government, the perils 
surrounding herself, her husband, and children, and 
the gaieties and excitements which, in spite of every- 
thing, went on perpetually at the Neapolitan court, 
Maria Carolina's heart and mind were filled with 
terror, indignation, and anxiety for her sister 
Antoinette, and a passionate longing to deliver her. 

In March, 1792, the death of her favourite brother, 
the Emperor Leopold, came upon the Queen as a 
crushing blow. Six weeks after him died the 
Empress Ludovica, who declared she could not 
survive the husband whom she had always loved 
passionately, in spite of the numerous infidelities 
in which he resembled his father, the fascinating 
Emperor Franz. 

The gallant King of Sweden was murdered by his 
subjects in the same month. 

Furious at not being received by the court and 
government at Naples, Cacault had used all his 
endeavours to induce France to attack the Two 
Sicilies, representing that the coasts of Sicily were 
exposed, and that Naples was built on the sea-shore ; 
with its royal palace, government stores, and pubhc 
buildings so near the water's edge it would be the 
easiest thing in the world to bombard and destroy 
the whole place if a French squadron were sent to 
the bay of Naples. 

* Colletta. 



MARIA CAROLINA 159 

To the revolutionary government, however, other 
considerations presented themselves. However 
willing they might have been to gratify the spite of 
their worthy envoy, they could not but perceive 
that the destruction of Naples might entail con- 
sequences too serious to be risked for such a 
satisfaction. 

The injury to commerce would be enormous, and 
it was not to be supposed that the maritime Powers, 
headed by England, would allow such an outrage to 
pass unpunished. It would be better to try by all 
possible means to keep Naples neutral, and with 
this object a more decent, respectable envoy was 
selected, to receive whom the Queen was induced 
to consent. 

It was with the greatest reluctance that she 
yielded, but there seemed no alternative. Naples 
was not strong enough to protect herself ; the 
exposed situation of both the Sicilies was only too 
apparent. 

The envoy chosen by Dumouriez was a certain 
Mackau, who, though a radical, was not a furious 
Jacobin, but supposed to be a moderate member of 
the revolutionary party. He had decent manners 
and habits, being the son of a diplomate and of a 
souS'goiivernante of the children of France, and had 
himself been Minister at Wiirtemberg. 

He received instructions to address himself to the 
Queen, as it was useless to talk to the King. He 
was to calm her uneasiness, to point out to her 
the dangers the Neapolitan fleet and commerce 
would incur in a war with France, and to assure 
her of the peaceful intentions of the French govern- 



i6o A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

ment. Armed with these instructions, Mackau set 
out for Naples, passing through Rome, where he 
had so Httle savoir-faire as to propose to pay his 
respects to Mesdames de France, who, of course, 
refused to receive him. 

Then, he forgot to get a passport before leaving 
Rome, in consequence of which, when he arrived at 
the Neapolitan frontier he was refused permission to 
cross it. He persisted, threatened to declare it an 
act of hostility, and at last was allowed to proceed 
on his journey ; but the officer on guard was 
punished for not carrying out his consigiie. 

This incident shows the state of feeling prevailing 
at Naples, which was crowded with emigres, and 
where his arrival was anticipated with disgust. The 
emigres declared he was a dangerous revolutionist ; 
everywhere he was avoided, or received with cold- 
ness and contempt. 

Before long the news of the attack on the 
Tuileries and all the horrors of the loth of August 
filled the court with consternation. 

The King and Queen, in the first frenzy of grief 
and indignation, refused to recognise Mackau and 
directed Acton to communicate their decision to 
him, and there was a stormy scene between the 
Neapolitan Minister and the French envoy on the 
3rd of September. Those of the French residents 
in Naples who belonged to the revolutionary party 
begged Mackau not to leave them, as they were 
afraid of the emigres and the overwhelming numbers 
who sympathised with them. He himself was 
especially anxious to remain, and declared his inten- 
tion of doing so, requesting permission to wait, at 



MARIA CAROLINA i6i 

any rate, until after the confinement of his wife, 
which was expected to take place before long. 

Every salon was now closed to him ; he was closely 
watched by spies of the police, and in every way his 
position became intolerable. ^ 

War appeared to be imminent, and it was only 
the terribly helpless and isolated position of Naples 
which prevented the King and Queen from instantly 
breaking off all relations with the nation for which 
they now entertained the profoundest hatred and 
horror, but which was so powerful that it must be 
conciliated almost at any cost. 

The King of France was deposed, the Republic 
proclaimed, and Mackau announced that as the 
French nation had decided upon a republic he 
would serve that as he had served the King when 
under his orders, but that he had never been pro- 
perly received and treated as Ambassador of France, 
and that now he wished to know whether, being 
the accredited representative of the Conventional 
Government, he was to be recognised as French 
Ambassador to Naples or not. 

The court put off the decision as long as they 
could by evasions and temporising, until matters 
were brought to a crisis by the Convention send- 
ing orders to their representative to leave Naples 
at once. 

Mackau requested an interview with Acton, and 
began to prepare for his departure, upon which 
the Neapolitan court, yielding to a cruel neces- 
sity, changed the line of conduct hitherto observed, 
and requested him to remain. 

* " Marie Caroline, Reine des Deux Siciles " (Andre Bonnefonds). 

12 



i62 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

There was no help for it. The allies and emigres 
under the Duke of Brunswick had indeed begun 
the campaign so ardently longed for by Maria 
Carolina, who, watching with breathless anxiety 
the progress of their arms, had, with all her 
court, family, and emigr/s friends, rejoiced and 
exulted when the news arrived of the capture of 
Longwy. But their joy was soon turned into 
despair by the evil tidings which followed this 
shortlived success. 

There had been a great battle at Valmy. The Duke 
of Brunswick had been defeated by Dumouriez ; the 
allies were driven back. Dumouriez had invaded 
Nice and Savoy, and the ferocious mob at Paris, 
terrified and infuriated by the news of Longwy, 
had perpetrated the awful September massacres 
which sent a thrill of horror through the civilised 
world and inflicted an indelible stain upon the 
honour and fair fame of France. 

Everything looked black and threatening : the 
allied forces were disunited and incompetent ; 
England, whose powerful fleet could have swept 
the seas, still held back ; the ferocious republic 
was everywhere victorious ; its representative must 
be received with consideration. Concessions, 
political and social, were therefore reluctantly 
made. The Queen consented to receive Mme. 
Mackau ; the salons were opened to her husband 
and herself, who now presented themselves at the 
balls and dinners of those by whom they were 
loathed and despised. 

The bloodstained republic was not only a serious 
danger and curse to every country in Europe, but 



MARIA CAROLINA 163 

an annoyance in many lesser but intolerable ways. 
It sent brutes and ruffians of infamous character 
and low, coarse manners as ambassadors and pleni- 
potentiaries to other powers, especially if they were 
not strong enough to resist. These scoundrels 
were not only objectionable from their odious 
habits and customs, and as the suitable represen- 
tatives of the gang of murderers their masters, but 
they were also exceedingly mischievous, taking 
every opportunity of disseminating amongst the 
ignorant populace the murderous, rapacious, and 
blasphemous principles of their own party. 

One of these ruffians, named Basille, was sent to 
Rome, where he behaved in a manner so offensive 
and outrageous that the Romans rose up and killed 
him in a riot. The French writer, M. Bonnefonds, 
in relating this circumstance, exclaims with horror 
and indignation at the well-deserved fate of this 
violent caitiff, apparently supposing that the emis- 
saries of the French republic had a right to 
oppress and annoy, even in their own cities, the 
people of other countries, but that those persons 
had no right to defend themselves or retaliate. 

Another of these pestilent fellows was sent to 
Genoa, where he busied himself in translating into 
Italian, and spreading in Italy, the doctrines of the 
wretches now terrorising France. Acton, who con- 
sidered this agent of the revolution a danger to the 
country, managed to get rid of him. The King of 
Sardinia, to whom it was attempted to send him, 
refused to receive this Semonville, who was then 
sent to Turkey. Acton, however, wrote to the 
N'eapolitan plenipotentiary at Constantinople, and 



i64 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

gave him an account of the proceedings of Semon- 
ville in Italy. The plenipotentiary showed this 
letter to the Sultan, who thereupon declared he 
would not have Semonville in his dominions. 

The Convention were enraged at all these rebuffs, 
which they attributed to Acton and the King and 
Queen of Naples, and on the 17th of December, 
1792, a squadron of French ships of war appeared 
in the bay of Naples. The largest of them dropped 
anchor within half a gunshot of the fortress of Castel 
deir Ovo, and the French admiral. La Touche, having 
drawn up the rest of his ships in line of battle across 
the port, sent a messenger to demand reparation or 
disavowal of the insult offered to France in the 
person of her ambassador, declaring that unless 
such apologies, retractation, or disavowal were 
made within an hour he would lay Naples in 
ruins. 

The republican writer, General Colletta, blames 
Maria Carolina for yielding to this demand, but, 
in common with all the radical writers, especially 
the French and Italian ones, he was tolerably cer- 
tain to blame whatever she did. If she had refused 
the demand, and her refusal had resulted in the 
destruction of Naples and the massacre of its 
inhabitants, no words would have been strong 
enough for him to inveigh against her folly, 
cruelty, and obstinacy in sacrificing her capital 
and her people to her pride and vengeance. As 
it w^as, he accuses her of weakness and cowardice, 
neither of which faults belonged in the least to 
her character. 

The danger was immediate and terrible. The 



MARIA CAROLINA 165 

Neapolitans had been taken unprepared. Both the 
Queen and Acton were aware of the numbers and 
violence of the Jacobin party in Naples, and 
believed they would revolt and assist the French, 
even if they were not already in conspiracy with 
them. I Whether their suspicions were right or 
wrong, it was unanimously decided at a hurried 
meeting of the Council, by a vote agreed to by 
the King, Queen, and Sir John Acton (who was 
not a person to be suspected of cowardice), that 
they had not the power to resist, and therefore 
there was no choice but to comply with the 
demands of the stronger force. The letter was 
disavowed. The King promised to treat Mackau 
as the ambassador of the republic and to remain 
neutral, which last promise the Queen had no 
intention of keeping. The hostile fleet weighed 
anchor and sailed away. 

Their narrow escape from the catastrophe which 
had only just been averted filled the society of 
Naples with alarm, but neither that nor the fear- 
ful anxiety of the royal family for their relations 
in France seems to have influenced the festivities 
of the court. It was a strange life just then at 
Naples ; a w^hirl of excitement, in which terrible 
suspense, continual danger, acute sorrow, and 
anxious watchfulness mingled with perpetual 
entertainments, music and dancing, theatres, mas- 

* The violence and disloyalty of this party were a serious 
danger. Even as the messenger from La Touche, bringing his 
threat to bombard Naples, passed through the street, he was 
greeted with shouts of welcome from these traitors. "Courage, 
brave Frenchmen ! Go on ! Fifty thousand men will stand by 
you" (Helfert). 



i66 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

querades, and pageants, fairy-like illuminations 
reflected at night from the stately palaces and 
ships into the calm waters of the lovely bay, pic- 
nics and hunting parties in the shady woods and 
delicious gardens of the enchanting country out- 
side, now and then disturbed by a shock of earth- 
quake, the rumour of an approaching enemy, or a 
dangerous conspiracy ; while from time to time the 
great volcano poured streams of burning lava down 
its steep sides, and smoke and flames burst forth, 
their lurid light to unaccustomed eyes like watchfires 
in the still Southern night. 

Lady Webster, writing from Naples, where she 
was staying at that time, to Lady Sheflield, says : 

" In the course of one month we might either 
have been Bombarded by the French, Smothered 
by the Mountain, or Swallowed up in an Earth- 
quake. . . . Our Mountain blazes in a Grand Style, 
and I mean to ascend it amidst torrents of red-hot 
lava and showers of burning stones. ... All the 
English except the Palmerstons and those who 
stay the summer here have flown. The Gaieties, 
however, go on merrily. To-morrow we have a 
Fete at Portici, which consists of Breakfast, Dinner, 
Concert, Ball, and Supper. Of the Day, sufficient 
is the Evil thereof. ... I wrote you a very pretty 
history by M. la Flotte, who carried the news of 
the massacre at Rome to the Convention. — 
i6 March, 1793."' 

The royal family and court were, however, in 
mourning when this letter was written, for on the 

* "The Girlhood of Maria Josepha Holroyd" (afterwards Lady 
Stanley of Alderley). 










LoL'is XVI. 



To face p. 167 



MARIA CAROLINA 167 

7th of February the news of the murder of 
Louis XVI. had come upon them Hke a thunder- 
bolt, just as they were preparing for the fetes of the 
Carnival. Balls and concerts were put off, a general 
mourning was ordered, and a grand funeral Mass, 
attended by all the court and elite of society, was 
celebrated with great pomp and solemnity. 

The King and Queen were plunged in grief and 
longing for vengeance. To them the crime was so 
monstrous as to be almost incredible.^ 

On some one remarking shortly afterwards that 
this was the second instance in history of the 
execution of a king by his subjects, Ferdinand 
exclaimed in astonishment : 

'^ The second time ? " 

** Yes, your Majesty ; in England " 

" A king put to death in England ? " 

^'Charles I., your Majesty." 

** No ! " cried Ferdinando indignantly, ^^ you have 
been misinformed. The English are far too brave 
and loyal a people to commit such an abominable 
crime." 

Then, after a pause, he continued : 

'^ You may be assured that it is a pure invention 
of the Jacobins at Paris, which they have set about 
in order to make their own crime appear less by the 
example of the great English nation. They may 
succeed in deceiving their own people, but I hope 
we know better than to be taken in." 

The French ambassador, Mackau, was, to do him 
justice, horrified at the murder of his King. Like 
many of his party, he had never expected things to 

* Helfert, " Konigin Maria Karolina," &c. 



i68 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

be carried to such extremities. Though a miserable 
creature he was a gentleman, and his early instincts 
and associations made him recoil from iniquities 
which came naturally enough to many of his 
colleagues. He had known Louis XVI. from 
childhood, had received many kindnesses and 
benefits from him, and although he was requiting 
them with the blackest ingratitude, this catastrophe 
caused him both grief and consternation. He shut 
himself up with his wife and gave way to tears and 
lamentations, which did not, however, prevent his 
refusing to wear the general mourning ordered and 
writing a cringing letter to Lebrun, assuring him 
that he had not done so.^ 

His despicable weakness and self-interest, how- 
ever, did him no good, and pleased nobody. 

Acton sent the usual notice of general mourning 
to him as well as to the other ambassadors, and he 
ought in decency, if he did not intend to observe it, 
to have sent in his resignation. 

In consequence of his conduct his position at 
Naples became intolerable. He met with nothing 
but slights and insults. Every one turned away from 
him with horror as identified with the assassins. 

Still, he clung to his post in spite of it all, and 
put the finishing stroke to his folly and baseness 
two or three months later. 

Early in May the Empress of Austria, eldest 
daughter of the King and Queen of Naples, gave 
birth to a son, an event which, in the midst of their 
sorrow and anxiety, gave them much consolation 
and happiness. In honour of the Archduke their 

* Bonnefonds, 



MARIA CAROLINA 169 

grandson they ordered the general mourning to 
cease, and issued invitations to a fete to be given 
in celebration of the occasion. 

As a matter of course, all the ambassadors re- 
ceived invitations, including Mackau, who could not, 
as French ambassador, be excluded, but who was, 
of course, under the circumstances, expected to 
understand that it was only a formality of which 
he could not possibly avail himself. That he 
should have actually done so was all the more 
unexpected and outrageous, as he was not only 
the son of a diplomate, but had been himself 
Minister at Wiirtemberg, consequently the excuse 
of ignorance could not be his. 

Nevertheless, on the evening of the fete he arrived 
at the palace and appeared in the presence of the 
King and Queen. 

A thrill of disgust and indignation ran through 
the whole assembly. That the representative of the 
regicides should present himself at a fete in the 
family of him they had murdered was so shocking 
that it called forth a chorus of horror and contempt. 

Mackau approached the sovereigns, who, without 
deigning to return his salutation, turned their backs 
upon him, while gibes and sneers and whispers all 
around showed him clearly the enormity of his offence. 

He understood; retired profoundly mortified; and, 
resolving to leave Naples at once, he wrote to Cacault 
to ask for a French ship from Livorno, as the Papal 
States were closed. 

It is satisfactory to know that, far from deriving 
any advantage from his contemptible conduct, it in 
fact ruined him. 



170 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

From Lebrun and the Executive Council he re- 
ceived severe censure for the incident. 

Considering, they declared, that the object of the 
fete to which he was invited should have indicated 
to him that he could not attend it without impro- 
priety, he ought to have excused himself from what 
was only a matter of formality. And since his in- 
considerate conduct had exposed him to a slight 
which compromised the office with which he was 
invested, they took this opportunity to recall him. 
He therefore departed in disgrace and returned into 
the Terror, through which he passed without losing 
his life ; but his career was closed. That he never 
learnt either sense or dignity is evident from his 
having had the impudence to ask Louis XVIII. for 
a pension. 

Maret, afterwards Due de Bassano, was appointed 
to succeed him, but never occupied his post, for two 
very sufficient reasons. 

Maret and Semonville were seized in the Orisons, 
July 22, 1793, by the emissaries of Austria, who car- 
ried them secretly to Mantova, and then to Hufstein, 
in the Tyrol, where they were imprisoned. In his 
Memoirs, Louis XVIII. relates this circumstance, 
which he declares to have been most unfortunate : 

" After the death of the King, the courts of Naples 
and Tuscany attempted to save the Queen and 
Madame Elisabeth, offering their mediation with the 
revolutionary government. This proposition having 
for a moment appeared of a nature to be admitted, 
it was decided at Paris to charge Maret and Semon- 
ville with this mission. The latter had just been 
named Ambassador at Constantinople ; he was 



MARIA CAROLINA 171 

secretly directed to stop at Florence on various 
pretexts to confer with the Minister Manfredini, 
charged to treat with him ; while Maret should go 
to Naples for the same purpose. Perhaps a for- 
tunate result might have crowned this enterprise if 
Austrian policy had not ordained otherwise. On the 
22nd of July, Maret and Semonville were seized in 
time of peace, in the neutral territory of the Grisons, 
by emissaries of Austria. This veritable trap had 
disastrous consequences. In vain the two diplo- 
matists explained the object of their journey: no one 
would listen to them; they were sent first in secret 
to Mantova, then to Hufstein, in the Tyrol. Not 
only that, but the Grand-duke was forced to dis- 
grace Manfredini, and these measures were followed 
by the death of the Queen and Madame Elisabeth." ^ 

* " Lui (Semonville) et Maret avaient ete arretes dans le cas 
suivant : apres la mort du Roi, les cours de Naples et de Toscane 
avaient essaye de sauver la Reine et Madame Elisabeth, en offrant 
leur mediation au gouvernement revolutionnaire. Cette proposition 
ayant un instant paru de nature a pouvoir etre admise, on se 
decida a Paris a charger Maret et Semonville de cette mission. 
Le second venait de recevoir le titre d'Ambassadeur a Con- 
stantinople : on lui enjoignit secretement de s'arreter a Florence 
sous divers pretextes pour s'y concerter avec le Ministre Man- 
fredini, charge de traiter avec lui, tandis que Maret se rendrait 
a Naples dans le meme but. Peut-etre qu'un heureux resultat 
aurait couronne cette entreprise, si la politique autrichienne n'en 
eut ordonne autrement. Le 22 juillet, 1793, Maret et Semonville 
furent enleve en pleine paix a Novale, sur le territoire neutre des 
Orisons, par des emissaires de I'Autriche. Ce veritable guet-apens 
eut de funestes consequences. Vainement les deux diplomates 
firent connaitre I'objet de leur voyage, on ne voulut rien 
entendre ; lis furent d'abord envoyes secretement a Mantoue, 
puis a Hufstein, dans le Tyrol. Ce n'etait pas assez, le Grand- 
due de Toscane dut disgracier Manfredini, et ces mesures furent 
suivies de la mort de la Reine et de Madame Elisabeth." — 
"Memoires de Louis XVIIL," t. vii. pp. 76-7. 



CHAPTER XI 



Tlie Queen's popularity declines — Her proceedings give offence — 
The Neapolitans — Faults and virtues of Maria Carolina — 
Violence and calumnies of her enemies. 



FOR the last two or three years the popularity of 
Maria Carolina had been rapidly declining, to 
a much greater extent than she at all suspected. The 
discovery she made by means of her police spies, 
who penetrated everywhere, high and low, of the 
numbers of her enemies, their ingratitude for all she 
had done for them, and the atrocious slanders they 
were spreading about her, was at once painful and 
astonishing. 

For even her bitter enemy, the historian Colletta, 
admits that for more than twenty years, until 1790, 
she had governed the kingdom well and wisely, 
although he tries, like all her detractors, to give the 
credit of her reforms and beneficent institutions to 
Ferdinando, who they know perfectly well w^as a 
man incapable of originating or carrying them out, 
besides being entirely occupied with his own 
pleasures at Caserta. 

So far was he from wishing to take any part in 
the government or in any kind of business, that 

he would not even allow inkstands to be in the 

172 



MARIA CAROLINA 173 

Council chamber, for fear he might have the trouble 
of writing anything. 

One day at Caserta, where a Council was being 
held, a most important matter was under discussion. 
Suddenly the crack of a whip was heard three times 
in the courtyard. The King started up, and turning 
to the Queen, exclaimed, ^' My dear, take my place, 
and conclude the affair as you think best." So 
saying, he left the Council chamber and w^ent out 
hunting.! 

In spite of her many good qualities, however, 
Maria Carolina was a person certain to make 
enemies, even if her position had not been one 
of such extreme difficulty. 

The active brain, always busy about something or 
other, and the hasty, impetuous disposition against 
which the Empress, her mother, had so strongly 
warned her, as well as the generous heart and deep 
interest in her subjects by which she was so strongly 
characterised, caused her to be too eager and too 
vehement in carrying out her plans and reforms, 
and too resolved to push them on in spite of all 
opposition. 

Young, enthusiastic, and full of good intentions, 
during the first part of her reign she had been 
carried away by the doctrines which then seemed 
as beneficent as in later years they became abhorrent 
to her. She tried to do too much at once, as eager, 
enthusiastic young people are apt to do, and being 
not only an impetuous young girl, but the daughter 
of an Empress and herself a Queen with absolute 
authority, she swept away all obstacles to the ful- 
« Helfert. 



174 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

lilment of her plans, and treated those who disliked 
or disagreed with them with disdain and contempt. 

This was all the more unfortunate as most of her 
projects and reforms, righteous and excellent though 
they might be, were calculated to irritate one class 
or other of her subjects who were affected by them. 

The corruption that prevailed in the law courts 
was iniquitous, and the inquiries and reformations 
she caused to be made in them infuriated the lawyers, 
especially the edict obliging every judge to state the 
reasons of his decrees. 

Her reduction of the oppressive privileges of the 
nobles had angered many of them, and the 
numerous party amongst them whose sympathies 
were with Spain were alienated by the substitution 
of Austrian for Spanish influence at the court of 
Naples. 

Carlos III. had been a capable and excellent King; 
his rule over Naples had been just and benevolent ; 
the only mistake he made was his attempt to exer- 
cise, after his abdication, a control which made it 
virtually a province of Spain. But he had been 
deeply incensed by the independent policy of his 
son and daughter-in-law, and had died, not in 
open hostility, but without having forgiven what 
he considered to be undutiful conduct on their 
part. 

The clergy resented the Queen's secular schools 
and the part she took in the distribution amongst 
educational and secular institutions, such as hos- 
pitals, museums, and the University, of the confis- 
cated property of the Jesuits ; although it was not 
she who had either quarrelled with them or seized 



. MARIA CAROLINA 175 

their possessions^ but Carlos III. and Ferdinando, 
before her marriage. 

The army reforms furnished another ground for 
contention, although she had restored it from the 
miserable state in which she found it to discipline 
and efficiency. But although there was not a single 
Neapolitan officer capable either of commanding a 
battalion or organising a corps of artillery, the 
nobles were furious because the Queen sought 
for and employed competent officers from other 
countries. I 

With the navy it was just the same ; in spite of 
their unprotected coasts, the miserable Neapolitans, 
like a certain party in our own country and in the 
present day, grudged the necessary money to pay 
for the magnificent fleet she had created, which 
ought to have been their pride as well as their 
safeguard. 

The new laws for the regulation of the coral 
fisheries and the planting of waste lands with 
olives, though benefiting many people, made 
enemies of others whose profits were injured 
thereby. Her attempt to prevent the insanitary 
custom of burying in the churches was so obviously 
right that even the people of Naples subscribed 
quickly for the new campo santo ; but the nobles, 
though they gave money for this object, continued 
to bury their own dead in the churches, as they had 
always been accustomed to do. 

The Queen completed the palaces and buildings 
left unfinished by Carlos III. and built the theatres 
of the Fondo and San Ferdinando. She also carried 
* "The Queen of Naples and Lord Nelson" (Jeaffreson). 



176 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

on the work of the royal archives of Naples originated 
by Ferdinand of Arragon (1477) and carried on by 
some of his successors. It was finished under her 
government (1786). 

Jeaffreson justly remarks that Colletta, in stating 
that this work was completed by Ferdinando the 
Bourhoiiy gives '^ a good example of the way in 
which Maria Carolina is deprived of the glory due 
to her for her good deeds even by historians who 
admit in a roundabout way that Ferdinando was in 
no degree personally accountable for the virtuous 
achievements of his reign. Caring for nothing but 
his pleasures, Ferdinando was wholly indifferent to 
the work under consideration. Had it related to the 
game in the royal chases, instead of the parchments 
in the royal archives, the matter w^ould have received 
a proper share of the King's attention." ^ 

But, especially when one considers that at the 
same time Maria Carolina was a devoted mother to 
her numerous children and entered wdth the 
keenest enjoyment into the pleasures and excite- 
ments of her gay, luxurious court, one cannot 
fail to be astonished at the immense amount of 
business that, with the authority of Ferdinando and 
the assistance of Acton, she managed to transact, 
and the varied scope of her exertions ; more 
especially if one realises the time, place, and 
circumstances. 

Coming as an inexperienced girl of sixteen from 

the highly civilised, cultivated, and decorous court 

of Vienna ; accustomed to a society regulated by 

the strictest ideas of religion and refinement and a 

' " The Queen of Naples and Lord Nelson." 



MARIA CAROLINA 177 

family celebrated throughout Europe for the excep- 
tional talents, education, attractions, and superior 
qualities of all its members ; and living amongst a 
people like the Austrians ; what could be more 
astonishing, perplexing, and incomprehensible than 
such a husband as Ferdinando and such a court 
and people as those of Naples ? 

Any one who has lived in Italy even in our own 
day knows the extraordinary difference in civilisa- 
tion between the north and south of that country, 
not only among the lower classes, but in ranks 
which in other lands are not affected by geographical 
position. The further you go south in Italy, the 
more Oriental are the aspect and the atmosphere 
around you. Women are more secluded, children 
more spoilt and ill-behaved, servants more dis- 
honest, animals worse treated, the pursuits, amuse- 
ments, and conversation both of men and women 
more unintellectual and frivolous, the ideas, habits, 
and customs less civilised. 

That in every department of the state corruption 
prevailed was not surprising ; at that time and in 
the different Italian states it was a matter of course. 
For an experienced man it would have been 
difficult enough to purge the administration of 
the government of the Two Sicilies from the 
malpractices and abuses which abounded in every 
department ; for a girl or young woman it was 
impossible. 

Still, she did w^hat she could ; and if she did it in 
an autocratic way, that was only following the pre- 
cepts she had always been taught and the example 
of her mother and brother, who had gained the 

13 



178 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

love of their subjects and the approbation of the 
world in general. 

For many years she had been very popular, except 
with the Spanish party, at the court she had made 
so attractive and splendid ; with the poor, to whom 
she showed such constant charity and kindness ; 
and with the liberals, to whom she gave so much 
encouragement and sympathy. 

But now her popularity was everywhere disap- 
pearing, and these last, from her ardent admirers 
and devoted friends, had not only turned into her 
bitterest foes, but were doing all they could by the 
blackest calumnies, the most wicked and monstrous 
inventions, to ruin her reputation, and by their 
secret conspiracies to undermine her government. 

Maria Carolina had the virtues and the faults of 
a strong, undisciplined character. Under happier 
circumstances, or if she had died after the first three 
or four and twenty years of her reign, she would 
have always been looked upon as an excellent 
queen. But fate was against her ; the latter part 
of her life was beset with misfortunes, sorrows, 
and injuries which embittered her mind and ex- 
aggerated her faults. Jeaffreson, in speaking of her, 
remarks : 

*' In her best time she had the ordinary failings 
of an ambitious, aspiring, and supremely beautiful 
woman. In her later years, when multitudinous 
troubles and griefs that sharpen with time had 
changed her moral nature, and so affected her 
mind that its sanity was sometimes questionable, 
she became a woman whose claim to pity was 
stronger than her title to admiration. But the 



MARIA CAROLINA 179 

beautiful Queen of Naples, with her delight in 
splendid vanities and her keen appetite for every 
enjoyment befitting a personage of her high degree, 
could not have been so steadily considerate for the 
poor and ignorant, and so perseveringly thoughtful 
for the higher interests of her people, had she not 
been a conscientious and good woman. The story 
of Maria Carolina's humane and glorious govern- 
ment of the Sicilies up to 1790 would by itself 
discredit the monstrous inventions of the much 
later libellers, who, without a single scrap of sound 
testimony for the justification of their revolting 
statements, require us to believe that her private 
life during this same period was no less vile and 
loathsome than her public life was bright and 
admirable. . . . 

'' At the close of 1790 Maria Carolina had for 
more than twenty years been carrying out her 
laudable schemes for the welfare of her people. 
In the execution of these schemes she had (to use 
one of Lord Beaconsfield's many felicitous expres- 
sions) spent some twenty years in harassing in- 
terests. No wonder, then, that by the end of 1790 
Naples abounded with people who thought and 
spoke ill of the meddlesome Queen, and were ready 
to believe tales to her discredit. Amongst the 
people thus ready to believe defamatory tales of 
Maria Carolina there were equally furious and 
credulous simpletons who would have swallowed 
the monstrous invention had any malicious gossip 
accused the Queen of having poisoned her own 
mother. I am not aware that this particular charge 
was ever made against Maria Carolina by her 



i8o A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

calumniators. But at the close of 1790 the time 
was approaching when quite as wild and hideous 
things began to be whispered of her by the revo- 
lutionary fanatics, whose monstrous and utterly 
baseless slanders found their way to the pages of 
deplorably indiscreet but not intentionally wicked 
writers of history." i 

I have quoted this in full, because Mr. Jeaffreson, 
who, from the large collection of documents con- 
cerning Queen Carolina, Lady Hamilton, and Lord 
Nelson that came into the possession of Mr. Alfred 
Morrison, and to which he so recently had access, 
gained therefrom a considerable amount of valuable 
information, hitherto inaccessible to the public, 
which throws light upon many transactions and 
circumstances otherwise obscure. The value of the 
details and explanations we thus obtain does not, of 
course, consist in anything new that we learn about 
Lady Hamilton, whose life and character are well 
known, but in the evidence it brings forth respect- 
ing a woman of far different position, character, 
and importance — the much-maligned Queen of 
Naples. English readers are, for the most part, 
well acquainted with the history of the adventuress 
who, after leading a disreputable life as model or 
mistress to one person after another, enjoyed for 
a few years a brilliant social career and then dis- 
appeared into obscurity. But with regard to the 
illustrious daughter of the great Empress, the 
daughter, sister, mother, and grandmother of 
emperors, empresses, kings and queens, herself a 
queen, for many years practically an absolute ruler, 
* " The Queen of Naples and Lord Nelson." 



MARIA CAROLINA i8i 

distinguished for her talents, beauty, and misfor- 
tunes, most of them know little or nothing ; many 
have no idea who she was at all, or confuse her with 
her unworthy supplanter, Caroline Buonaparte. 

It is from certain German writers that a clear 
estimate of Maria Carolina should be gained. The 
French and Italian works about her are written for 
the most part by violent radicals and revolutionists 
who, as in the case of Marie Antoinette and Queen 
Louise of Prussia, thought no infamy too atrocious 
to invent or spread against a woman who was the 
enemy of their party or their nation. English 
writers read and believed these calumnies, or 
received as truth the slanderous reports circulated 
by her enemies during her later years, especially 
when at the climax of her misfortunes she was 
opposed to the English in Sicily. 

In the graphic, exhaustive, and deeply interesting 
volumes of Freiherr von Helfert,i who has devoted 
to the history of Maria Carolina — as did Herr von 
Arneth to that of Maria Theresia — all the learning, 
research, and study necessary to produce works so 
voluminous, so powerful, and so invaluable to the 
student of the history of those times, we find the 
true and carefully given account of the life of this 
brilliant but most unfortunate Queen. 

With painstaking accuracy he traces out the 
different incidents, showing the absolute impossi- 



* " Konigin Karolina von Neapel und Sicilien im Kampfe gegen 
die franzosische Weltheerschaft, 1790-1814" (Freiherr von Helfert, 
Wien, 1878) ; " Maria Karolina von Oesterreich, Konigin von 
Neapel und Sicilien. Anklagen und Vertheidigung " (Freiherr 
von Helfert, Wien, 1884). 



i82 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

bility and the preposterous nature of various 
charges made against Maria CaroUna, and shows 
that whatever might be the faults of her later years, 
immorality was certainly not amongst them ; while 
of the malignant scandals circulated about her 
relations with various persons in her younger days 
there has never been the slightest proof, and the 
object and motives for their invention were per- 
fectly evident. 

The raving fury of her revolutionary assailants 
makes their statements ridiculous ; as, for instance, 
those of the Milanese Gorani, who remained in 
Paris during the Terror and shared in many of 
the excesses and infamies going on, although at 
last he was anxious to save the Girondins, destroy 
Robespierre, Marat, and Danton, and place Louis 
XVII. upon the throne under a regency of 
radicals. 

He hated Maria Carolina as an Austrian as well 
as a queen, and countless specimens of his writings 
show the venom and blindness of his fury against 
her : 

'* EUe a les passions aussi fortes, les memos vices, 
les memes inclinations que sa sceur Antoinette de 
France. . . ." 

^' Ce n'est point une Reine, una epouse, une mere, 
que I'Autriche nous a donnee ; c'est une furie, une 
Megere, une Messaline qu'elle a vomie dans sa 
colere et lancee parmi nous." 

^' La Reine de Naples ressemble a ses sceurs. Elle 
cherit la famille dont elle descend, meprise son 
mari, et deteste le pays sur lequel il a la faiblesse 
de la laisser regner." 



MARIA CAROLINA 183 

'' Ah ! j'aime a penser que Marie-Caroline est 
I'unique monstre de cette espece," &c. 

Such are some specimens of the less violent of his 
ravings against the Queen ; others are too disgusting 
and outrageous to record. 



CHAPTER XII 

Return of the French fleet — Treachery of La Touch e and Mackau 
— The Jacobin supper — Conspiracies — Disguised as porters— 
The secret poHce — A secret treaty — Capture of Toulon — 
Alhance with England — Nelson — Splendid reception at Naples 
— The Queen and Captain Nelson — Departure of the Againcm- 
noii— The Queen and her daughters— The Princess Amelie — 
The murder of Marie Antoinette— The Office for the Dead— 
The Marchesa Solari — Vows of vengeance. 

NOT long after the departure of La Touche and 
his ships, but before the breaking out of 
hostilities between the Two Sicilies and the French 
Republic, the fleet which had caused so much terror 
and threatened so much evil had returned in a 
deplorable state, all battered and damaged by a 
violent storm by which it had been overtaken, the 
Admiral asking to be allowed to repair the ships 
in the port of Naples, so recently threatened with 
bombardment by its guns. 

As the two nations were still on friendly terms 
this request could not be refused, and the ships 
accordingly were put under repair and supplied 
with provisions, much to the disgust and grief of 
the Queen, forced by a terrible necessity to give 
assistance to the murderers of her brother-in-law 

and the oppressors of her sister, and wishing with 

184 



MARIA CAROLINA 185 

all her heart that they were at the bottom of 
the sea. 

She urged Acton to press on the work so that 
they might be got rid of as soon as possible, for she 
dreaded the mischief they might do in Naples ; but 
Neapolitan workmen being in those days very much 
like what they are now, it is easy to understand that 
his orders, remonstrances, and reprimands were 
useless ; the work dragged slowly on, and the 
republican officers, as the Queen expected, took 
every opportunity of doing all the injury possible 
to the government whose hospitality and assistance 
they were receiving. 

They spread about everywhere the doctrines of 
the revolution ; the revolutionary leaders, many 
of whom were students at the University, young 
professional men, or cadets of noble houses, vied 
with each other in showing them attention and 
admiration, constantly visiting them on board 
their ships and listening with avidity to the 
abominable precepts poured into their ears. 

La Touche himself, regardless of the most 
elementary principles of honour, which would have 
made him recoil from the treachery of secretly 
working injury to those whose guests he and his 
officers were, advised the young Jacobins to orga- 
nise secret societies for the dissemination of revolu- 
tionary principles, and taught them how to arrange 
and carry on their meetings and conspiracies with 
the least possible harm to themselves and the greatest 
amount of danger to other people. 

The spies of the secret police, who penetrated 
into every resort of all classes of the city, soon 



i86 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

discovered that treason and danger were rife, and 
brought their reports to the Queen. 

Sheltered by the darkness, they were cautiously 
admitted in the dead of night to the royal palace, 
where, in the stillness and seclusion of the sala 
osciiraj the Queen was waiting for them in deep 
anxiety and dread. For she knew that not only 
her crown and kingdom, but her life and the lives 
of her husband and children were threatened by 
the same miscreants who were urging on the 
destruction of her beloved sister, whose image 
was seldom absent from her heart. At last 
the repairs were finished, the French ships 
provisioned, and the fleet weighed anchor and 
departed. 

But before they left they had joined the leaders 
of the Neapolitan Jacobins in a supper, at which, 
amid inflammatory and treasonable speeches, the 
conspirators in a frenzy of disloyalty and fanaticism 
fastened to their breasts the red caps of the 
Terrorists. 

General Colletta, in the account he gives of this 
transaction, illustrates amusingly the bias with 
which he in particular and his party in general 
regard different actions according as they are 
committed by their own adherents or by their 
opponents. 

*' Many of the Neapolitan youth, enthusiastic for 
the new doctrines, held communications with the 
officers of the fleet, with Mackau and La Touche ; 
and as it was the policy of the French government 
to incite the people to liberty, and thus associate 
them in their dangers and struggles, the Admiral 



MARIA CAROLINA 187 

inflamed their youthful minds still more, and advised 
them to hold secret meetings^' 

These two worthies, it must be remembered, 
who were thus secretly stirring up sedition and 
conspiracies in a friendly State, and inciting rash 
boys to treason, were the Ambassador accredited 
to that country and the Admiral of the fleet now 
accepting its protection and hospitality ! 

Of the proceedings at the supper Colletta remarks, 
as if it were the most ordinary and unimportant 
matter in the world, that ^' in the intoxication of 
their hopes and wishes, it happened that the 
Neapolitans hung at their breasts a little red cap, 
at that time the symbol of the Jacobins in France." 

For such a thing to ^'happen," however, especially 
at that time of peril and commotion, was by no 
means a trifling matter. Little or big, the red cap 
was the badge of the Terrorists, and was no trifle at 
all ; it meant that the young men who '' happened" 
to hang it to their breasts were pledging themselves 
to preach and take part in treason, plunder,and blood- 
shed. It would be interesting and curious to know 
what, under these circumstances. General Colletta 
and his friends would have thought it right and 
reasonable for the government of Naples to do. 

Was it complacently to allow dangerous con- 
spiracies to be organised amongst its subjects, and 
to refuse to protect itself and the loyal portion of 
the people from the attempts of those who were 
preparing to attack them ? 

Such, apparently, was the opinion of the radical 
historian, who, while he saw no harm whatever in 
an ambassador (if republican) taking advantage of 



l88 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

his position secretly to arouse rebellion against the 
government to which he was accredited ; was hor- 
rified and indignant that in order to discover how 
far he was mixed up in the conspiracy, to what 
extent it existed, and who were the persons con- 
cerned in it, the Queen, having been informed of 
what had taken place and what was still going on, 
should have availed herself of the services of one of 
her spies, one Luigi Custode, who was living in the 
house of Mackau, to get hold of certain papers, 
which he accordingly brought to her. 

Nothing was found in the papers, however, and 
another grievance against the King and Queen was 
that when Mackau accused Luigi Custode and 
nothing could be proved against him, he was not 
only acquitted by the judges but afterwards re- 
warded by the court — that is to say, by the King 
and Queen, who, having made use of him, did not 
choose to desert him. 

It was no wonder they were alarmed. Only a 
short time before the supper in question two copies 
of the French revolutionary statute of 1791 had 
been picked up in the apartments of the Queen, 
where they had been purposely placed by some one 
whose name could not be discovered. But it was 
found that two thousand of these documents had 
" happened " to have been printed by a secret club 
of Jacobins in Naples, who, when they had got 
these compromising productions, did not know what 
to do with them. Their courage failed when they 
reflected upon the probable consequences to them- 
selves if they carried out their original intentions 
and distributed them about the city; so, after giving 



MARIA CAROLINA 189 

away by night a few copies to their immediate sym- 
pathisers, they decided that the rest had better be 
destroyed, and that the safest way to do this would 
be to drop them into the sea. 

Two sacks were therefore filled with these valu- 
able productions, and two young nobles dressed 
as porters carried them on their backs to the rocks 
of Chiatamone. In order to arrive at their destina- 
tion they had to pass through the most populous 
part of the city ; but they started just after sunset, 
that they might avoid both daylight and the night 
watch, and they effected their purpose in safety and 
were applauded by their companions as if they had 
done some noble and heroic deed. 

This story is also related by General CoUetta, 
who calls the cowardly insult offered by these 
young men to the Queen in putting the papers in 
her rooms and then hiding themselves ^^ a spirit of 
youthful defiance." 

To other people this useless outrage would seem 
to have more fear than defiance about it, and rather 
to resemble an anonymous letter, which is usually 
supposed to be what a schoolboy would call ^^a 
blackguard thing." And an anonymous insult on 
that subject directed against a woman who, as they 
well knew, was at that moment in an anguish of 
suspense about the fate of her sister, then a helpless 
prisoner in the hands of the ruffians in question, 
would appear to ordinary persons not sharing the 
political opinions of General Colletta not only 
cowardly but brutal. 

It is scarcely surprising that the King and Queen, 
exasperated and alarmed by these incidents and 



I90 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

proceedings, should have become embittered, stern, 
and not too scrupulous or lenient about the 
measures they took to defeat the machinations 
of their traitorous subjects and protect the lives 
and property of those who were loyal, as well as 
the safety of themselves and their children. 

The coup d'etat prepared by Maria Carolina was 
most carefully arranged so that no innocent person 
should be molested ;^ and when information had 
been gained of the names of those who had had 
treasonable intercourse with the French, or of 
whose treasonable actions or conspiracies there was 
sufficient proof, orders were given to the police, 
and the conspirators and Jacobin leaders were 
seized in one night and carried to the underground 
cells of the strong fortress of St. Elmo, there to 
await their trial before the special tribunal to be 
appointed to judge them. 

It was all done so swiftly and silently, they were 
so utterly taken by surprise, that in the morning 
nothing was known except that during the night 
many houses had been visited by the police and 
many people taken away. Where they were no- 
body knew, and no statement, explanation, or 
allusion to their fate appeared. 

How many and who were missing was not 
immediately known, as some few of the Jacobin 
party had, after the departure of the French fleet. 



^ This does not mean that daring the arrests now beginning no 
innocent person was involved, but only that the Queen was most 
anxious that no one but the guilty should be taken. It was, of 
course, impossible, at such a time of terror, exasperation, and 
confusion, deplorable mistakes sheuld not occur. 



MARIA CAROLINA 191 

escaped to France, Genoa, Milan, and Venice, and 
the families of some of those taken were either 
afraid to compromise their own safety by making 
any stir, or else so furious and so much ashamed 
that a member of their house should be a traitor 
and a Jacobin that, far from wishing to proclaim 
the matter, they did all in their power to hush 
it up. 

This measure spread terror and uneasiness 
amongst the Jacobin party and all those who in 
any way sympathised or associated with them, but 
reassured the loyal and peaceable inhabitants, who 
regarded them, their doctrines, their principles, and 
their aims with fear and abhorrence. 

While the emissaries of the French republic were 
occupied in inciting to rebellion the subjects of an 
ostensibly friendly power, the King and Queen on 
their part, not considering themselves bound by an 
agreement forced violently upon them against their 
will under threats of massacre and destruction, were 
secretly arranging a treaty with England. By this 
the King of Naples was to send four men-of-war, 
four frigates, and four lesser vessels, with six 
thousand soldiers, to the Mediterranean to join an 
equal number of ships and soldiers from England, 
secure the dominion of the sea, and protect the 
commerce of the Two Sicilies, which, besides the 
danger threatened by the French fleet, was per- 
petually subject to the attacks of light ships from 
Barbary. These pirates devastated the coasts, seized 
on merchant vessels, and did an immense amount 
of mischief. 

Towards the end of August Lord Hood took 



192 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

Toulon, and the Neapolitan fleet hastily set sail to 
join him, as did the Spaniards and Sardinians. 

The French declared, as they always did and still 
do, whenever they experience a reverse, that they 
were betrayed, and, as usual, sought for a victim 
upon whom to lay the blame. General CoUetta, 
following their lead, declares, as they did, that 
General Count de Maudet, who commanded at 
Toulon, had voluntarily yielded the fortress com- 
mitted to his charge to the enemies of his country. 

Nelson, however, wrote to England : 

^' Famine has accomplished what force could not 
have done : not a boat has got into Toulon since 
our arrival, and we literally starved them into a 
surrender." 

The Comte de Maudet, who knew what was likely 
to be his fate if he trusted to the tender mercies 
of the Jacobin government of Paris, accompanied 
the fleet to Naples, and received a small sum, just 
sufficient for the subsistence of his family, which 
gave rise to the assertion of the French that he had 
betrayed his country for gold. 

In fact, it was the fault entirely of the republican 
government, which, although well aware of the 
scarcity of food in Toulon, would not send supplies 
there when it would have been perfectly easy to 
do so. 

The alliance was now openly signed between the 
Two Sicilies and the rest of the coalition against 
France, i.e., England, Russia, Austria, Prussia, 
Spain, Portugal, and Sardinia. 

Acton announced the definite rupture by the 
following communication to Mackau : " La cour de 



MARIA CAROLINA 193 

Naples, ne pouvant plus supporter la faction qui a 
usurpe le pouvoir en France a pris la determination 
de faire savoir a M. de Mackau qu'il doit dans le terme 
de huit jours quitter les Etats de S.M. Sicilienne/' 

Shortly afterwards Captain Nelson, on the 
Agamemnon, appeared at Naples to request that as- 
sistance might be sent to Lord Hood, who with a 
ludicrously inadequate force was holding Toulon. 

An outburst of enthusiasm welcomed the English 
hero, then in his thirty-fifth year, to the southern 
capital, where he and his officers and men were 
entertained with lavish honours and hospitality by 
high and low. 

Whenever the English sailors passed through the 
streets shouts and cheers broke from the people 
who crowded to see them ; at court and in society 
Italians and English vied with each other in the 
splendour of the entertainments given to the 
officers ; at theatres, banquets, and balls they were 
feted and flattered by the most beautiful women in 
southern Italy; the three weeks they spent in Naples 
passed like a dream of enchantment. Captain Nelson 
was, of course, lodged at the British Embassy ; but 
Mr. Jeaffreson declares positively that it was not on 
this occasion, and in fact not until five years later, 
that his passion for Lady Hamilton began. 

" Extant documents prove conclusively that the 
passion had its birth no earlier than the moment 
of his departure from Sicilian waters in July, 1798, 
for his second expedition to Egypt, and that the 
grievous and reprehensible part of the entanglement 
did not begin before the year 1800." ^ 

' " The Queen of Naples and Lord Nelson," i. pp. 254-5. 
14 



194 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

His acquaintance with her and his friendship 
with Sir William Hamilton began, however, during 
this, his first visit to Naples, when he was 
treated by them both with the greatest distinction. 
The suite of rooms he occupied at the British 
Embassy had been prepared and decorated for 
a prince, and his stepson, a young midshipman 
named Josiah Nisbet, received especial kindness 
and attention from Lady Hamilton. He himself 
was received by the King and Queen almost as 
if he had been a royal visitor ; at the great ban- 
quet at the palace he sat on the right hand of 
the King, above all the Ambassadors and nobles 
present ; he was constantly in the society of Fer- 
dinando ; and Maria Carolina, who looked upon the 
English as her last chance, poured into his ears 
her impassioned hopes and longings that by their 
help even yet she might save her sister, avenge 
the murder of Louis XV L, and set her nephew 
on his father's throne. As the Queen could not 
speak English, or at any rate not well enough 
to carry on a long conversation in that language, 
and Captain Nelson, like many of his countrymen, 
could speak nothing else. Lady Hamilton was 
employed on all occasions by them as interpreter. 
Sir William Hamilton had for many years been 
the trusted and intimate friend both of the King 
and Queen, and the friendship with which Maria 
Carolina now regarded Lady Hamilton, and that has 
given rise to such wild, incredible, and monstrous 
fabrications on the part of her enemies and traducers, 
can be easily accounted for by the exceptional cir- 
cumstances by which they were both surrounded. 




Lord Nelson. 
After a painting by Abbott. 



MARIA CAROLINA 195 

The Queen looked upon the alliance of England 
not only as the one and only hope of saving 
the sister whose life now hung on a thread, but 
also of protecting her own children, her husband, 
and herself from the perils with which they were 
threatened ; the friendship and assistance of the 
English Ambassador were absolutely essential to 
her, and to neglect an obvious way of securing 
and strengthening it, by showing favour and con- 
sideration to the woman whose influence over 
him was all-powerful, would have been out of the 
question, even if Lady Hamilton had been a 
woman more objectionable and less pleasant or 
attractive than she happened to be. 

Her wonderful beauty and grace, however, 
fascinated the Queen, and by this time she had 
acquired a superficial cultivation and to a certain 
extent the usages of society. She had learned to 
speak French and Italian fluently, although in all 
languages her grammar and spelling were fearful 
and wonderful, especially in writing. She had 
given much attention to the study of music, 
and her singing was much admired. The Queen 
also liked her lively good spirits, which cheered 
her when, as now so often happened, she was 
anxious and unhappy. 

Lady Hamilton for her part had certainly at 
this time, and for long after, a real affection for 
the Queen, whose notice and protection were all- 
important to her, whose friend she was immensely 
flattered to consider herself, and in whose trials 
and griefs she warmly sympathised. 

That she had sense enough always to speak of 



196 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

and behave to the Queen with the profoundest 
deference, never presuming upon the kindness 
and favour shown to her, is evident. 

^' I had been with the Queen the night before 
alone en famille, laughing and singing, &c.," she 
wrote Mr. Greville, June 2, 1793, ^' but at the 
drawing-room I kept my distance, and paid the 
Queen as much respect as if I had never seen 
her before, which pleased her very much. But 
she showed me great distinction that night, and 
told me several times how she admired my good 
conduct." 

And many things had happened which drew 
the strangely incongruous friends nearer together. 
In the November of 1792 Sir William Hamilton 
had been dangerously ill at Caserta, and much 
sympathy had been shown to his wife by the 
English residents. Lady Plymouth, Lady Webster, 
and others used to send twice a day to inquire 
for him, though Caserta is sixteen miles from 
Naples ; they also offered to help nurse him. 
The Queen, to whom his death would have 
been a most serious calamity, also sent a mes- 
senger every morning and evening until he was 
out of danger, and the concern and sympathy 
she displayed increased the gratitude and affection 
of Lady Hamilton for her royal protectress. 

The three weeks' stay of the Agamemnon at 
Naples had just drawn to a close, and Captain 
Nelson had invited a large party to a grand 
farewell dejeuner on board his ship. The King 
had promised to arrive at one o'clock ; but before 
that hour the news was suddenly brought that a 



MARIA CAROLINA 197 

French man-of-war, with three ships under convoy, 
was at anchor off the coast of Sardinia. 

It was enough for Nelson. At once he gave 
orders to sail, and before King or guests were 
to be seen or heard of the Agamemnon was 
disappearing out of the Bay of Naples in pursuit 
of the enemy. 

Owing to the gaps made by the death of so 
many of the children of the King and Queen of 
Naples there were great differences in the ages of 
those remaining. 

The Empress of Germany and the Grand-duchess 
of Tuscany were now about twenty-one and twenty 
years old, the Prince Royal fifteen, Marie Christine, 
and Amelie fourteen and eleven, Marie Antoinette 
ten, Leopold four, and Carl Alberto three years of 
age. In their education while under her care, and 
in her constant correspondence with them after 
they were married, the Queen followed the ex- 
ample of her mother and the system to which 
she had been accustomed during her own early 
life. 

Like Maria Theresia, she strongly desired to 
obtain a lasting influence over her daughters and 
to possess their entire confidence. She never 
allowed a day to pass without their spending at 
least an hour with her. To a certain blue salon 
at Caserta, therefore, the young Princesses were 
expected to come to her every day, which they 
did very often with some anxiety, if not alarm, 
for their mother was in the habit of questioning 
them about their studies and conduct, and admin- 
istering advice and reproofs concerning both. 



198 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

The King used also every now and then to 
appear in the blue drawing-room, where the chil- 
dren were always delighted to see him, as he 
was extremely affectionate and indulgent to them, 
and without in any way interfering with their 
mother's authority, he usually managed to show 
especial kindness and favour to any one of them 
upon whom he thought she had been rather 
severe. 

For Maria Carolina resembled her mother in 
another and less desirable way ; although, like 
her, she loved all her children devotedly, yet she 
had favourites amongst them. 

As Christine had been the most beloved of the 
daughters of the Empress Maria Theresia, so 
Maria Carolina adored her eldest daughter, and 
now that she was separated from her she gave 
her next preference to Christine, who was a sweet, 
gentle girl, but not nearly so clever nor so ad- 
vanced in her studies as Amelie. This vexed the 
Queen, who also observed that Amelie had a love 
of admiration and a hasty and impetuous temper, 
which the Queen might have been expected to 
understand and make allowances for. She, how- 
ever, showed too plainly that she did not wish 
Amelie to surpass her sister, was too ready to find 
fault with her even in public, and too eager to 
counteract the tendency to be proud and over- 
bearing which she thought she detected in this 
young Princess. 

The King, on the other hand, seeing that his 
wife preferred Christine, made a special favourite 
of Amelie, and was nearly as delighted as the 



MARIA CAROLINA 199 

child herself when he could get leave to take her 
with him on one of his hunting expeditions in 
the neighbourhood of Caserta or to the marshes of 
Capua. And all her life Amelie^ who loved her 
father passionately, used to look back upon these 
excursions with him as some of her happiest times. 

The propensity to make favourites amongst 
children, though very common with parents, is 
one of the most unfortunate and mischievous 
possible, and scarcely ever fails to do incalculable 
harm. It sows dissension in families, destroys the 
belief in the justice of their parents' rule, which 
is all important for young people to possess, and 
is most likely to prevent, or at any rate weaken, 
the mutual affection of brothers and sisters, making 
the favoured ones selfish and overbearing and the 
others jealous and resentful, more especially as 
the partiality of a father or mother is very seldom 
bestowed on those most deserving of it. 

And though parents cannot of course help in 
many cases feeling more affection for one child 
than another who may be less attractive and less 
lovable, they are not justified in acting upon 
their inclination by giving one of their children, 
for no reason but their own preference, more 
advantages, more money, or more indulgence than 
another, or treating with severity in one child 
faults they would excuse or pass over in another. 

However, in all other respects the Queen was an 
excellent mother to all her children, and they all 
loved her with the deepest affection. 

The Empress of Germany and the Grand- 
duchess of Tuscany wrote to her constantly, con- 



200 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

fided to her their hopes and fears, and told her 
everything that went on at their courts ; her 
other daughters also grew up with the same habits 
and the same affectionate attachment to her. 

A few weeks after the departure of Nelson the 
fearful news of the murder of Marie Antoinette 
arrived at Naples. Everybody was filled with 
horror and consternation, while the Queen, who 
had hoped until the last, never being able to believe 
that the worst would happen, was overwhelmed 
with grief and despair. 

It was in a deeply impressive manner that Queen 
Carolina made known to her children this lament- 
able news. Summoning them all into her presence, 
with her face bathed in tears she led them to the 
chapel of the palace, where, as they knelt with bowed 
heads before the altar, there began the solemn tones 
of the prayers for the dead, in which the young 
voices of the awe-stricken children followed the 
trembling accents of their mother, as with tears and 
sobs she joined in the intercessions for the soul of 
her murdered sister. 

And if the passionate desire for vengeance on her 
murderers mingled with grief for her sufferings and 
death, and compassionate anxiety for her helpless, 
desolate children still in the hands of their perse- 
cutors, who can wonder ? For in her strong, pas- 
sionate human nature Maria Carolina did not 
resemble Marie Antoinette. She would never have 
said, after a long succession of perils and insults 
from her own subjects to herself and those dearest 
to her : 
*^J'ai tout vu, tout su, et tout pardonn^." 



MARIA CAROLINA 201 

The just punishment of atrocious crimes was her 
earnest wish and continual aim, and for Louis XVI., 
who had been too weak either to stand by his 
friends or fight his enemies, and whose conduct she 
blamed for these deplorable events, she had nothing 
but contemptuous pity. The following letter, 
written a short time after this terrible catastrophe, 
shows how completely Maria Carolina was prostrated 
by the shock and the grief of it.^ 

" Le 25 Dec, i'jqs. 

" Excessivement malade je puis a peine tenir ma 
plume et ne passe que des momens hors de mon lit, 
je ne puis done vous voir mais mes voeux vous 
accompagneront et j'espere dans des temps plus 
heureux et prochain de meme que votre ami vous 
voir tranquilement etablie icij dites lui bien que je 
n'abandone pas cet espoir, et an plutot, ]e vois la 
tracasserie que Ton a faite, rien ne m'etonne, j'en 
ai tant vue dans ma vie ; et c'est ce qui m'a fait 
entierement retirer du monde et vivre a moi seule. 
]e souhaite a votre digne estimable ami un heureux 
voyage, un meilleur succes qu'il me conserve son 
estime, plaigne mes circonstances tourmantantes de 
toutes fagons et qui ont ruin^ ma sant^, et si je reste 
en vie je me flatte voue encore realiser tous nos 
projets et le voue avec les amis parens tranquille et 
agreablement a Naples cet espoir me rend moins 
douloureux son present Elorgnement. Adieu." 

These terrible scenes left a profound impression 
upon the children, particularly upon the Princess 
' From Mr. A. M. Broadley's collection of MSS. 



202 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

Amelie, whom they appeared deeply to affect. It 
was about this time that she was to make her first 
communion, and that solemn event, with the terrible 
tragedies being enacted around her, seemed to have 
altered her tastes and disposition. She became 
graver and quieter, cared less for childish amuse- 
ments and more for study, and above all for religion, 
showing, in fact, already the germs of that saintly 
and exalted character so fully developed in her after- 
life, and now fostered by the loving care of her 
governess, Signora Ambrosio. 

Into the charge of this excellent woman the 
Princess Amelie had been given by the Queen, 
according to the custom of the Neapolitan court, 
immediately after her birth, and it was soon evident 
that no better choice could possibly have been made 
of a guardian upon whom rested the whole care and 
education of the Princess during infancy, childhood, 
and girlhood. 

Donna Vincenza Rizzi had been the wife of a 
distinguished Neapolitan lawyer, Don Bernardo 
Ambrosio, who had left her a widow with twelve 
children ; her wise counsels, good example, and 
constant kindness had gained the respect and love 
of her pupil, the future Queen of France, who 
always spoke of her w^ith the deepest affection and 
gratitude. 

Shortly afterwards there arrived at Naples the 
Marchesa Solari, an Englishwoman by birth, who 
had been one of the ladies of Marie Antoinette, and 
had at the end of 1791 brought letters from her to 
Maria Carolina. 

The Marchesa did not know until she approached 



MARIA CAROLINA 203 

Naples whether the fatal news had yet reached that 
country, and dreaded to see the Queen in conse- 
quence. But Sir William and Lady Hamilton, who 
knew she was coming, drove out several miles from 
the city to meet her, and directly she saw them and 
the deep mourning they wore she understood that 
the tidings must have become known. On hearing 
from Sir William Hamilton that the Marchesa had 
arrived, the Queen desired that she should come to 
her immediately. 

When the Marchesa saw Maria Carolina she was 
so struck by her likeness to Marie Antoinette that, 
overcome by her recollections, she hesitated and 
faltered while the Queen, whose face expressed the 
agony she was feeling, gave a tremendous shriek, 
and, as soon as she could find words, exclaimed : 

"Good God 1 did you ever think the French 
would have treated my sister and her husband in so 
horrible a way ? " Then, as the Marchesa began to 
reply in French, she continued : 

" For God's sake do not, I beseech you, let me 
hear any more of that murderous language ! You 
speak Italian and German — pray address me for the 
future in either of those languages." 

But after this burst of anguish the Queen became 
calmer, recovered something of her usual fortitude, 
and continued the conversation in French, which 
seemed her habitual language. ^ 

The murder of her favourite sister embittered and 

changed the character of Maria Carolina ; her whole 

soul was filled with an ardent longing for revenge 

upon the ruffians who had committed these atro- 

* " The Queen of Naples and Lord Nelson." 



204 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

cities, and who were still revelling in bloodshed and 
threatening others dear to her. In her cabinet de 
travail she caused to be placed a picture of Marie 
Antoinette, and under it the inscription, " Je pour- 
suiverai ma vengeance jusqu'au tombeau." 



CHAPTER XIII 

Dark days — Gallant efforts of the Queen — Society at Naples — " Let 
us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die"— Earthquake and fearful 
eruption — Trial of the conspirators — Execution of the leaders 
— Attacks on the Queen — Friendship with Lady Hamilton. 

WITH all her natural courage and fortitude, 
combined with the desperate resolution to 
resist to the last the torrent of destruction which 
evidently threatened all Europe, the Queen strained 
every nerve and used every resource available to help 
on the efforts being made to stem the revolutionary 
tide advancing with such appalling swiftness. 

In the previous year (1792) she had made 
strenuous attempts to induce the Italian States to 
unite in the defence of Italy against the horrors of 
a French invasion. She wrote in the King's name 
to the governments of Sardinia and Venice, urging 
them to take part in a league for the safeguarding 
of all Italy, pointing out that while the combined 
Italian armies might successfully resist the invader, 
division would be fatal to them all. " The hope of 
escaping singly," she wrote, ^*has ever been the ruin 
of Italy." 

If these two powers had agreed to the proposition 

she was certain that the Pope would have been with 

them, and that the minor Italian states could not 

have held back. But although the King of Sardinia 

20s 



2o6 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

eagerly accepted the invitation, Venice refused, and 
with that cowardly and selfish refusal were extin- 
guished all hopes of an Italian federation just before 
the suddenly threatened bombardment of Naples 
by Admiral La Touche. 

The Queen, however, did not relax her efforts. 
With feverish anxiety she pushed on warlike pre- 
parations of all kinds, with eagerness she watched 
for news of success or disaster. 

During December, 1793, rumours had been heard 
of some misfortune at Toulon. Nothing was certain. 
Christmas went by — a gloomy Christmas, full of 
sorrow for the past and foreboding for the future. 
Early in January it was reported that some English 
ships had been heard of from Livorno, and the 
Queen wrote at once to Lady Hamilton the follow- 
ing letter, which in spelling and composition might 
be compared with less excuse to the effusions 
proceeding from the pen of the latter ; 

"Ayant scue Tarrivee a Livourne de plusieurs 
batiments Anglois des lies d'Hieres Je desirois bien 
vivement savoir si elles ont mandes des nouvelles de 
Toulon au Chevalier Hamilton par la poste d'au- 
jourdhui mon interet a tout ce qui a rapport a cette 
Expedition etantinfinie Je prie Miledy de vouloir bien 
m'eclaircir sur des objets aussy interessant ce qui 
peut satisfaire mon cceur et I'empressement General 
et de me croire avec bien de I'Amitie, 

** Votre devoue, 

"Charlotte." I 

* " Having learnt the arrival at Livorno of several English ships 
from the Hyeres islands, I should very much wish to know if they 



MARIA CAROLINA 207 

There was no good news. Toulon had been 
taken by Bonaparte, the young Corsican General, 
whose fame was beginning to rise rapidly. The 
Neapolitan force came back in a deplorable condi- 
tion, having lost six hundred men, killed or prisoners, 
and had all their horses captured, besides an immense 
loss of tents, arms, standards, provisions, &c., &c., 
which could be ill afforded at the present crisis. 

The festivities of the Carnival were stopped and 
the churches thronged with people, while prayers 
were offered and lamentations and forebodings of 
approaching evil took the place of the songs and 
revelry with which, even at this time, the light- 
hearted Southern populace had been engrossed ; 
while, undismayed by this reverse, the Queen busied 
herself in raising more forces and collecting more 
money to repair the losses. 

With enthusiastic energy she worked, to such 
considerable effect that she collected and raised 
twenty battalions of infantry, thirteen squadrons of 
cavalry, and a train of artillery, and three regiments 
of cavalry to help the German troops in Lombardy, 
besides sending more ships, arms, and soldiers to 
the English. 

Thanks to her exertions, past and present, the 
Neapolitan fleet now consisted of forty gun-boats 
and forty larger vessels ; she had forty-two thousand 
troops of the line under arms, and a still more 

have sent any news by the post from Toulon to the Chevalier 
Hamilton to-day. My interest in regard to everything which relates 
to this expedition being infinite, I beg you, my lady, to be good 
enough to inform me on matters so interesting of what may satisfy 
my heart and the general eagerness, and to believe me, with much 
friendship, your devoted Charlotte." 



2o8 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

numerous reserve of militia — a force of consider- 
able strength for a kingdom of the size of the 
Two Sicilies, of which the inhabitants were by no 
means rich. 

The whole city was thrilled with excitement : the 
shows and entertainments of the Carnival were 
replaced by manoeuvres and sham sea-fights in the 
bay of Naples, which were witnessed by admiring 
crowds of spectators. 

The camp in the plain of Sessa was another centre 
of interest ; the King, the Queen, and Acton were 
continually there, inciting the soldiers by their pre- 
sence, exhortations, and promises.^ 

All this was at first extremely popular, but it very 
shortly became evident that such preparations, 
however necessary, could not but entail an enor- 
mous expense, which the existing resources were 
inadequate to meet. 

Heavy taxes were imposed, donations or subsidies 
were asked for and given, the churches, monasteries, 
and charitable institutions were ordered to bring to 
the royal mint all the consecrated plate which was 
not necessary for the performance of the offices of 
religion ; but even this and other expedients, which 
need not be enumerated in a work of this kind, 
proved insufficient. 

Then the Queen, driven to desperation, resolved 
upon a measure which it is impossible to justify, 
and which can only be described as a flagrant 
breach of trust and of the simplest honesty. Ficti- 
tious paper money, in the form of notes on the seven 
national banks, was issued ; the deception went on 
' Colletta. 



MARIA CAROLINA 209 

for some time without being found out, but at 
length its discovery caused the panic, loss, ruin, and 
clamour which were the natural consequences of 
such proceedings. 

'' State necessity, the instincts of despotism, the 
ease with which the money could be obtained, while 
the theft could be concealed by fabricating fresh 
paper, and the hope of replacing the missing sum 
before it could be discovered ; finally, the belief en- 
tertained by all absolute monarchs that the property 
as well as the lives of their subjects belongs to them," 
were, says General Colletta in his history of Naples, 
the motives and explanation of this indefensible 
conduct. The people who had suffered by these 
fraudulent transactions were naturally furious and 
became the enemies of the Queen, the King, and 
Acton, whom, in a reaction of feeling which cannot 
surprise one, especially in that excitable population, 
they accused of having robbed the banks to enrich 
themselves. 

But through all this time of public and domestic 
distress and calamity the court and society of 
Naples had never been more brilliant. Foreigners 
who stayed there on their travels remarked with 
wonder the continual round of pleasure that seemed 
to be unceasing in that bright city and on those 
sunny shores, where music, dancing, and careless, 
light-hearted gaiety seemed to occupy the time and 
thoughts of every one, from prince to peasant. 

The birthday of the King of England (June 4th) 
was celebrated by a large party at the English 
embassy, on the occasion of which the Queen 
wrote to Lady Hamilton her compliments to all 

15 



210 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

the company assembled, her longing to join in the 
song of " Good save great George, our King," and 
her delight in the alliance with the brave, loyal 
English, who would save Europe from the scourge 
which threatened it. 

To those who saw Maria Carolina at this time — 
fascinating, charming, surrounded by flatterers, the 
centre and life of everything that was going on, 
political, social, artistic, or charitable, sitting in the 
council, transacting the business of the state, fre- 
quenting churches and convents, supervising the 
pursuits of her children, joining the King's hunting 
parties, appearing at theatres and balls, her salon 
ever thronged with a brilliant society — it was diffi- 
cult to realise that, mingling with all this excitement 
and apparent enjoyment, were the constant harass 
of financial difficulties, the haunting remembrance 
of her sister's fate, and the dread of future disasters, 
which, by the successes of the French armies and 
the growing disaffection at home, were brought 
nearer and nearer. 

"Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die," 
might well have been the motto of that brilliant 
company, who shut their eyes alike to the tragedies 
which had taken place and to the coming events 
already casting their shadows before, and vied 
with each other in their luxurious entertainments 
and trifling pleasures. Not only figuratively, but 
actually, they were living on a volcano. 

A week had passed since the celebration of the 
King of England's birthday, the gaieties were at 
their height, crowds were flocking to the opera to 
hear the famous English cantatrice, Mrs. Billington, 



MARIA CAROLINA 211 

when, "on the night of the 12th of June a violent 
earthquake shook the city, and a hollow and deep 
rumbling noise indicated an approaching eruption 
of Vesuvius. The inhabitants of the cities and 
towns at the foot of the mountain fled from their 
houses, waiting in the open air for the dawn of day, 
which broke calmly ; but at the summit of the 
volcano a dense black cloud obscured the azure 
and glow of the sky, and as the morning advanced 
the noise increased, as well as the darkness and 
terror. Thus passed three days. On the night of 
June I5th-i6th there came a report as from a 
hundred pieces of ordnance, and a fiery column 
was seen to rise from the side of the mountain, 
divide, and fall by its own weight, circulating round 
the declivity; vivid and long flashes of lightning 
issuing from the volcano vanished in the sky, and 
balls of fire were hurled to great distances, the 
rumbling sound bursting out in tones of thunder. 
Flame rose above flame, for the crater of the 
volcano continued unchanged, and two streams of 
lava were formed, which first advanced rapidly and 
then slowly towards Resina and Torre del Greco. 
The population of these cities, 32,000 persons, stood 
gazing at the scene in grief and wonder. 

" The town of Resina covers the site of ancient 
Herculaneum, and Torre del Greco was originally 
built where the mountain meets the sea. Half was 
covered by a prior eruption, which had brought 
down so much matter as to form a promontory 
upon the ruins of the city. New houses had been 
built on that elevation, and the two cities, the high 
and the low, communicated by steep streets formed 



212 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

in steps. The eruption of 1794 completed the work 
of destruction, leaving only the tops of a few 
buildings visible in the upper town and covering 
the lower city entirely . . . even the towers of the 
churches. Many of the fields around Resina were 
consumed, the lava only ceasing to flow after it had 
reached the furthest extremity of the town. 

*^ The first stream from Torre del Greco entered 
the sea, drove back the waters, and left in their place 
a mass of basalt of sufficient magnitude to form a 
mole and roadstead where small vessels could seek 
shelter from tempests. The two streams, bending 
with the fall or curvature of the land, sometimes 
met and sometimes again divided ; a convent con- 
taining three persons was surrounded, flight became 
impossible, and they all perished from suffocation 
caused by the intense heat. The road followed 
by the greater stream of lava was four miles 
in length, a distance which it traversed in three 
hours. 

^' Thus the night passed away. The morning 
hour struck, but the light of day had not dawned, 
for it was concealed by the thick, black shower of 
ashes which poured down like rain for many miles 
round the city. The appearance of continual night 
spread gloom throughout the metropolis, and, as is 
commonly the case, all turned for consolation to 
the resources of religion. Men and women of 
every age and condition, with bare feet, dishevelled 
hair, and ropes round their necks, walked in pro- 
cessions . . . chanting hymns and prayers. . . . The 
Cardinal Archbishop of Naples, followed by all the 
clergy in their robes, bearing the golden statue 



MARIA CAROLINA 213 

of San Gennaro, . . . invoked the mercy of God 
in psalms. . . . 

'' The people set to work to clear from the roofs 
and terraces of their houses into the streets below 
the weight of ashes threatening to crush them. 

'' Night stole on, only recognised by the sound of 
the bells, which rung as usual. After some hours 
the darkness became so intense that the city, which 
was not then lighted by lamps, was like a close 
room, and the people, afraid to enter their houses, 
stood bewailing themselves in the streets and 
squares. 

" On the third day the darkness sensibly dimi- 
nished, though the light of day could still only be 
feebly distinguished, the sun appearing, as at its 
rising, pale and dim ; the shower of ashes was less 
copious, and the fire and thunder from the volcano 
ceased. . . . 

*^The inhabitants returned to their houses, worn 
out with fatigue and terror ; but in the middle of the 
night they were awakened by another earthquake, 
and while the ground still trembled beneath them 
they heard a crash as of the fall of many 
houses. . . . 

'' At daybreak the cause was discovered ; the 
mountain was seen deprived of its summit, which 
had been swallowed up in the vortex of the 
volcano. . . . Vesuvius had before towered above 
Monte Somma, but they had now changed their 
relative positions, and the latter soared highest. . . . 

''The truncated mountain remained of a conical 
form . . . the greatest thickness of the lava eleven 
metres, the land for nearly five hundred acres 



214 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

covered with liquid fire, and the mole, which pro- 
jected twenty-five metres into the sea, rose six 
metres above the waves. Thirty-three men and 
two thousand four hundred animals had perished. 

^^ But soon, while the soil was yet warm, a new 
city arose upon the ruins, houses upon houses, 
streets upon streets, churches upon churches." ^ 

The royal family and the Prime Minister fled 
to the camp at Sessa, where they took refuge and 
waited till those terrible days were over. 

The trials of the Jacobin conspirators were now 
going on, and the first to be tried was a certain 
Tommaso Amato, a native of Messina, who had 
forced his way into the church of the Carmine 
while the service was going on and rushed towards 
the sanctuary, fighting and overpowering the friar 
who tried to stop him, and pouring forth the most 
frightful blasphemies against God and the King. 

Horror and consternation spread through the 
crowds assembled in the church ; the man was at 
length secured and carried off to prison to await his 
trial, by which he was sentenced to the gallows. 
When it was too late and the sentence had been 
carried out, a letter from Messina brought the 
information that the man was mad, or at any rate 
subject to fits of insanity, and had escaped from 
a madhouse, to which, of course, he would have 
been sent back had these facts been known in time. 
It was one of those unfortunate miscarriages of 
justice of which there have been and still are many 
examples in all countries and in less troubled and 
perilous times, without the excuse of panic and 
' Colletta. 



MARIA CAROLINA 215 

horror acting upon the minds of men surrounded 
with danger and conspiracy. 

That the Queen should be blamed for this mistake 
of the judges is only an instance of the iniquitous 
malice of her enemies. The exaggerated accounts 
given by the republican and radical writers of the 
whole proceedings concerning the trial and punish- 
ment of the Jacobin conspirators should be read 
with caution, allowance being made for the un- 
scrupulous bitterness with which they not only 
maligned every action of the partisans of religion 
and order, but invented and circulated the most 
infamous falsehoods in order, for political reasons, 
to make them appear guilty and to justify the 
crimes and cruelties committed against them by 
the Jacobin party. 

As to the spies employed by Maria Carolina after 
her return from Austria in 1791, there exists in 
England a strong feeling against them, which was 
undoubtedly confirmed by the disclosures during an 
unfortunate trial in another country, although it has 
been questioned whether the existence of this dislike 
or prejudice has not often been the cause of con- 
siderable injury to the nation by whom it is enter- 
tained. In consequence of it (as, for instance, 
before the Boer War) the government is often left 
in ignorance of matters about which it is essential 
it should be informed. But such an idea would 
never have been entertained, nor even understood, 
at the court of Naples, nor at any other court a 
hundred years ago. The secret police of Napoleon 
was looked upon by him as an indispensable 
instrument of government. Before the establish- 



2i6 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

ment of Maria Carolina's system of police at Naples, 
robberies and murders in the streets had been so 
frequent that people were afraid to walk about at 
night. Directly after the new police arrangements 
all these crimes ceased, many bad characters and 
dangerous criminals being seized and transported to 
Lampedusa and Tremiti. 

The fifty persons accused were tried between the 
i6th of September and the 3rd of October, but 
although General Colletta and others inveigh 
against the proceedings in their usual manner, 
the fact remains that of that number ten were 
liberated, one sentenced to confinement for life, 
three to the galleys, twenty to a term of imprison- 
ment, and thirteen to lesser punishments. Three 
only were condemned to death, and although these 
three were by no means the worst characters 
amongst the prisoners, they were conspicuous and 
fanatical leaders in the dangerous attempts to bring 
the horrors of the Revolution into Naples, and did 
not attempt to deny the part they had taken in the 
treasonable proceedings proved against them. They 
were all students of the University, distinguished by 
their superior talents and influence, which they had 
used, in conjunction with the French officers, to 
spread the doctrines of the Jacobins. They had 
belonged to secret societies, taken part in the 
treasonable supper and worn the red cap of the 
Jacobins, to whose party they belonged. It was a 
lamentable thing that their lives should have been 
sacrificed, for they were not like some others, low 
scoundrels or bad characters, but foolish, misguided 
young fanatics, like many young Frenchmen at 



MARIA CAROLINA 217 

the beginning of the Revolution. These young 
Neapolitans had, however, less excuse, as they knew 
perfectl}^ well the results of the principles they were 
trying to introduce into their country. There was 
no room, as in the early days of visionary enthu- 
siasm in France, before the new ideas had begun to 
be acted upon, for any doubt whatever as to where 
they would lead. All the civilised world was horror- 
stricken at the crimes and atrocities of the Jacobins, 
and it cannot be surprising that these young men, 
whatever their private virtues, had to pay with their 
lives for the treason of which they were convicted. 
Colletta himself affirms that ^' though inflexible 
to crime, Maria Carolina had no desire to 
persecute the innocent," but only desired strict 
justice. 

The young men died bravely, one of them, 
Emanuele di Deo, refusing to earn his pardon by 
revealing the names of other conspirators. His 
father brought him this offer from the Queen. 
Brave and disinterested, though fanatical and mis- 
guided, he refused to betray his comrades, while 
admitting that he knew of a thousand implicated 
in the conspiracy ; and gloried in his treason. He 
was twenty, and the other two who were executed, 
nineteen and twenty-two years old. 

The friendship between the Queen and Lady 
Hamilton had meanwhile become more intimate. 
The deep and affectionate sympathy shown by 
the latter in her sorrows touched Maria Carolina, 
as may be seen by a letter sent by her some 
time before, with the portrait of the unfortunate 
Louis XVIL 



2i8 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

'' Ma chere Miledy, — ]'ai ete bien louche de 
I'interet que vous prenez a I'execrable catastrofe 
dont se sonl souilles les, infames fran9ois, Je 
vous envois le portrait de cet innocent enfant qui 
implore Vengeance, Secours ou, s'il est aussy imole, 
ces Cendres unis a ceux de ses infortunes Parens, 
crient avant I'Eternel pour une Eclatante Vengeance. 
]e compte le plus sur votre Genereuse Nation, pour 
remplir cet objet et pardonez a mon coeur dechire 
ses sentiments. 

^' Votre attachee amie, 

"Charlotte." I 

The Queen, who was always called Charlotte in 
her own family, was in the habit of thus signing 
herself in her German and French letters, using 
the name of Carolina when she wrote in Italian. 
It is certainly singular that a woman of her un- 
doubted talents and attainments should never have 
succeeded in composing, expressing, or spelling 
correctly her letters in a language which had been 
familiar to her from childhood, and which she 
habitually employed. Added to her other trials 
were now the infamous libels which, set about in 
Paris, were finding their way to Naples. She 

* " My dear Milady, — I have been greatly touched by the interest 
you take in the execrable catastrophe with which the infamous 
French have stained themselves. I send you the portrait of that 
innocent infant, who implores vengeance, succour, or, if he is also 
sacrificed, his ashes, united to those of his unfortunate parents, cry 
before the Eternal for a swift and signal vengeance. I rely most 
upon your generous nation to accomplish this object, and pardon 
my torn heart its sentiments. — Your attached friend, Charlotte." 
(Egerton MSS., British Museum.) 



MARIA CAROLINA 219 

waS; of course, an object of hatred to the French 
revolutionary party, who looked upon her as an 
active and dangerous enemy. Her povi^erful in- 
fluence had incited Germany against them, she 
had given all her energies to unite the Italian 
States into a league to protect Italy from their 
invasion, her ships had joined those of England 
in victory over a French fleet, her troops had 
helped the Germans in Lombardy, and her vigi- 
lant government and strong hand had for a time 
extinguished the Jacobin conspiracy in Naples 
and brought its leaders to justice. 

They revenged themselves by the foulest slanders 
respecting her private life, and Lady Hamilton, in a 
letter to Mr. Greville, December 18, 1794, says : 

" If ever you hear any lyes about her, contradict 
them, and if you should see a cursed book written 
by a vile french dog with her character in it, don't 
believe one word. She lent it me last night, and I 
have by reading the infamous calumny put myself 
quite out of humour that so good and virtus a 
princess should be so infamously described." ^ 

* " The Queen of Naples and Lord Nelson " (Jeaffreson). 



CHAPTER XIV 

Another conspiracy — Terrible tragedies — State of society in 
Naples — Prince Caramanico — Attempts to obtain the release 
of Louis XVII. and Madame Royale — Death of Louis XVII. — 
Distress of the Queen— The King pays homage to Louis 
XVIII.— Hunting at Carditello— The fish - market— Shrove 
Tuesday at San Carlo. 

THE government of Ferdinando and Carolina, 
irritated by past dangers and provocations 
and alarmed for the future, was no longer the 
paternal despotism of former years. 

Heavy but unavoidable taxes weighed down the 
people, continual anxiety and suspense hung like 
a cloud over the city, suspicion was in the air, 
arrests were always liable to take place, every one 
with the least tendency to liberalism was looked 
askance upon, watched, and ran the daily risk of 
a visit from the police, possibly of finding him- 
self in the prisons of St. Elmo. And prisons at 
that time and in that country were widely 
different from the well-aired, sanitary, constantly 
inspected abodes of England in the twentieth 
century. Those of Naples were probably no 
worse than others, but no one ever heard of a 
Neapolitan tramp or beggar breaking a window 
or committing any slight breach of the law on 



MARIA CAROLINA 221 

purpose to get himself sent there, and thus insure 
being suppHed with food and lodging, as occa- 
sionally happens under our more lenient system 
of legislation. No ; the most desperate and desti- 
tute vagrant that ever lounged on the shores or 
loitered in the streets of Naples would have pre- 
ferred want or even starvation outside the walls 
of the prison to the chance of what he might 
find within them. 

Though one dangerous conspiracy had been 
discovered and stopped, another one was soon 
suspected and after a time brought to light, in 
which were involved more than thirty members 
of many of the first families in Naples, some of 
whom were women, and several hundreds of 
persons of the lower classes. Again panic spread 
over the city. Liberals, radicals, and Jacobins 
were in terror of imprisonment and execution, 
royalists of assassination. 

Strict precautions and supervision over the food 
and drink of the royal family were rigorously 
enforced. The apartments of the King and Queen 
were changed from one day to another, arrests 
were numerous, espionage was universal, nobody 
was safe. 

The fury of party ran higher and higher ; families 
were split up into opposite factions, natural affection 
turned into enmity, such as one can only realise 
when one reflects upon what the division meant. 
It was no ordinary political quarrel, like Whigs and 
Tories, Conservatives and Liberals. To a young 
man either besotted with visions of Greek republics 
and Utopian unrealities, or longing for the reign of 



222 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

atheism, licence, and plunder, his father and brothers 
were arbitrary, unenlightened bigots and tyrants. 

To his father and brothers, believing in God and 
their religion, loyal to their King, proud of their 
name, desiring the preservation of order and 
property and abhorring the Jacobins and all their 
works, a son or brother who should connect him- 
self with that infamous and bloodstained crew 
was a disgrace to their house, a stain upon their 
honour, a curse and injury to the whole family. 

Terrible tragedies and unnatural cruelties arose 
out of this state of things, and frightful stories, 
many of course exaggerated, but others well 
authenticated, are told of that time and of both 
parties. 

^' Brothers were seen to close their doors on 
brothers, wives on husbands, fathers on sons. 
One father, to show his love for the King, 
betrayed and gave up his son to the infuriated 
mob, thus purchasing his own safety with the 
blood of his child," says Botta,i writing of the 
rising of the lazzaroni in 1799 — a riot attended 
with massacres and horrors innumerable. 

One of the accused was Luigi de' Medici, the head 
of the police, hitherto a trusted, loyal, and efBcient 
servant of the Queen and government, against whom 
no proof of guilt could be discovered. The enemies 
of Acton accuse him of being jealous of Medici 

» "Vidersi fratelli chiuder le porte ai fratelli, spose a sposi, 
padri a figliuoli. Fuovi un padre il quale per dimostrare ii suo 
amore pel Re scoperse e die in mano il proprio figliuolo alia 
furibonda plebe, comprando in tal modo la salute propia co 
sangue della sua creatura" (Botta, "Storia d'ltalia "). 



MARIA CAROLINA 223 

and conspiring to effect his destruction. Medici 
was imprisoned for some time and afterwards 
released.^ 

But it was easy enough for an innocent man 
to be suspected and imprisoned when the whole 
air was so full of terror, suspicion, and secret 
treachery that evidence of plots was eagerly seized 
upon, while fear, fury, and excitement were per- 
vading the public mind and influencing those in 
authority, whose lives were in continual danger, 
and who, becoming more and more accustomed 
to the deeds of blood and cruelty which were 
always going on both in France and Italy during 
the years of the revolutionary struggle, grew more 
and more hardened as time went on, and as they 
felt more keenly that they were fighting for their 
lives. 

It would not be possible in a work of this size 
and of this nature to describe in detail the plots and 
counterplots, the trials and punishments, the treaties 
and alliances, the battles and sieges, the political and 
military events crowded during these years into 
the records of the Two Sicilies. Nor would they 
perhaps be interesting to the general reader. The 
more serious student of history will find all those 
important matters exhaustively recounted in the 
works of the various writers, German, Italian, 
French, and English, of different political parties, 

^ Acton laid before the King and Queen the evidence brought by 
the informer, rewarded him, and searched for further evidence ; but 
there is no proof that he did not beheve in his culpabiHty. The 
statements of the Signora di San Marco, quoted by General 
Colletta, cannot be relied upon, as she was a person unworthy 
of credit. 



224 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

who have devoted so much time, learning, and 
enthusiasm to the subject. 

This book being intended to describe the Hfe 
and personal history of Maria Carolina, it is 
necessary to touch lightly upon the numerous 
struggles, reverses, crimes, and cruelties which 
took place, and from which material could easily 
be collected to fill many volumes, and to go on 
to matters concerning the private life of the 
Queen. 

The friendship and protection she showed Lady 
Hamilton at this time is attested by a number of 
existing letters from one to the other, in which 
the Queen invites Lady Hamilton to take her 
husband to the royal palace at Caserta for a 
change after illness, begs her to come to her in 
the evening to sing and act something to amuse 
her children, sending on her music by her maid ; 
or inquires with sympathy after her health, and 
confides to her various domestic anxieties of her 
own : 

** My daughter at Vienna causes me uneasiness. 
Her disorder does not please me at all, and to 
lose her would be a fearful blow for my heart, 
which might not kill me, but would inflict an 
incurable wound." 

More slanders came to distress the Queen at 
the beginning of 1795, when the Viceroy of 
Sicily, Prince Caramanico, having died suddenly, 
it was set about, as if in mediaeval times, that he 
had been poisoned by Acton at the instigation of 
the Queen. There was not the slightest reason to 
suppose he was poisoned at all, but in order to 









Madame Elisabeth, Sister of Louis XVI. 



To face p. 225 



MARIA CAROLINA 225 

conjure up a motive for so outrageous an accusa- 
tion it was suggested that the Queen had carried 
on a liaison with him many years before, and 
that Acton was afraid he might some day regain 
his influence. Other persons, equally resolved to 
lay the blame of his death upon Acton, said that 
the Prince had committed suicide for fear of being 
accused of treason by that minister. 

The facts being that Caramanico had always 
been a trusted and honoured friend of the Queen, 
who had made him Ambassador to Paris, to 
London, and finally Viceroy of Sicily, and had 
never withdrawn her confidence from him. No 
suspicion of anything but friendship in their 
intercourse had ever been before suggested. 

Next came a dangerous insurrection in Sicily, 
promptly quelled and severely punished ; and at 
the end of March a new and poignant sorrow 
was reserved for Maria Carolina in the death of 
her sister's son, the unfortunate little King 
Louis XVII., who sank from the effects of the 
brutal treatment of the revolutionists. 

Since the murder of Madame Elisabeth, which 
had soon followed that of Marie Antoinette, the 
efforts of all their relations of Bourbon and 
Habsburg, French, German, Italian, and Spanish, 
had been concentrated on the rescue of the two 
helpless children left in the clutches of the tigers. 
One had been sacrificed, but there still remained 
a victim who might be rescued. Hitherto the 
Salic law had saved her, and negotiations had 
been opened with the Convention before the death 
of her brother. 

16 



226 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

Their uncle, the Comte de Provence, had sent a 
despatch to the Austrian Minister, Thugut, begging 
that the Emperor would make an official request for 
the release of both of them, and had written him- 
self to Boissy d'Anglas, who replied that after the 
country had been delivered from Robespierre his first 
thought had been for the captive children, whose 
liberty he had tried to obtain. But that the Con- 
vention absolutely refused to give up the young 
King, though promising that he should now be only 
treated as a hostage^ not a victim. As to his sister, 
the matter was different : " la loi salique la sauve, 
alors qu'on a renverse toiites les auires his de la 
monarchie ; elle pent done alter oil I' on voudra la 
condnire. L'Espagne pent la reclamer de concert 
avec I'Auirichey offrir en echange les prisoniers qui 
sont dans les prisons de I'Empire, et Von croira ici 
faire un bon marche, MaiSy je voiis le repetCy si 
I'on mile le nom du jrere avec celui de la soeiiry 
tout manquera ; le parti pris a ce siijet est irrevo- 
cable. ..." I 

Having received this letter, the Comte de Provence 
wrote again to the Emperor. But Franz, cold, 
selfish, and incapable, could not be induced to 
move in the matter. He declared it was impossible 
to compromise his honour by negotiating secretly 

* " The Salic law saves her, when they have destroyed every other 
law of the monarchy ; therefore she may go wherever they wish 
to take her. Spain and Austria may demand her, offering in ex- 
change the prisoners who are in the dungeons of the Empire ; and 
here it will be considered a good bargain. But I repeat to you, if 
they mix up the name of the brother with that of the sister all 
v^ill fail, for their decision arrived at on that subject is irrevo- 
cable. . . ." (" Memoires de Louis XVIII "). 




Louis XVII. 



To /ace p. I'll. 



MARIA CAROLINA 227 

with the Republic, and he refused to give up his 
French prisoners. 

The Comte de Provence then appealed to the 
Empress Catherine of Russia, who immediately 
ordered her ambassador at Vienna to open the 
negotiation. Austria thereupon agreed to join, but 
no power could be found willing to make the 
proposals. Finally, however, Boissy d'Anglas 
applied to the American legation, which undertook 
to make the first advance. It was proposed to ex- 
change Madame Royale for various prisoners who 
had been seized by Austria — amongst others, Drouet, 
the regicide postmaster who had betrayed the royal 
family during the flight to Varennes, and so been 
the cause of their destruction. He had been 
captured while trying to escape when with the Army 
of the North ; he was not, however, one of those 
eventually selected. 

The young Louis XVII. was now better treated, 
and placed under the care of humane persons, but 
it was too late to save him, and even then the 
republican tyrants had not the common humanity 
to let the orphan brother and sister be together 
during the last days of the child's life. Madame 
Royale had now her sous-gouvernantej Mme. de 
Soucy, with her, and some persons appointed for 
her service. 

The King of Naples sent the Prince di San 
Nicandro to Verona to present his homage to 
the Comte de Provence, now Louis XVIII., as 
head of his family ; the Duke of Parma did 
the same ; and the King of Spain paid him a 
monthly pension of twenty thousand francs, upon 



228 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

which he supported a numerous household and 
suite.i 

On the 19th of December, 1795, Madame Royale, 
then seventeen years old, was released from the 
prison of the Temple. She did not know of the 
death of her aunt and brother, and this final blow 
seemed to render her, at first, indifferent to the fact 
that she was free. She was conducted as rapidly as 
she could travel across the frontier of Germany and 
consigned to the care of her Austrian relations. 
But this was not what she desired. She was of 
course received with all honour by her cousins, the 
Emperor and Empress, and by her Austrian uncles 
and aunts. Besides the Queen of Naples and Duke 
of Modena in Italy, there remained in Germany the 
Archduke Maximilian, Elector of Cologne, a fat, 
merry, good-natured personage, without much 
brains, but hospitable to the emigres and generally 
popular, and the Archduchesses Christine and 
Elisabeth. But they were all strangers to her, and 
her heart was with her French relations, whom it 
was now her one desire to join. Her father had, in 
a letter, charged her not to marry any one but 
the Due d'Angouleme, eldest son of the Comte 
d'Artois, and heir, after his uncle and father, to the 
throne of France. She soon discovered, however, 
that it was intended to marry her to the Archduke 
Carl, brother of the Emperor, and to claim for her 
the provinces of Burgundy, Bretagne, Alsace, 
Lorraine, and Franche Comte ; all of which, it was 
truly said, had come to France through the female 
line, and of which she was, therefore, the lawful 
* "Memoires de Louis XVIII." 



"^■^'^J 









Madame Royale. 



MARIA CAROLINA 229 

heiress. It was perfectly true ; but there were two 
obstacles in the way of the plan. First, the French 
would never entertain the idea of dismembering 
France ; secondly, Madame Royale refused to 
consent to the proposal. The imperial family tried 
all means of persuasion, and even prevented the 
French emigres having access to her ; but it was 
useless. She remained in Austria till 1799, and then, 
by the interposition of the Emperor Paul of Russia, 
was given up to her French uncles and married to 
the Due d'Angouleme.i 

In a letter to Lady Hamilton, replying to one of 
condolence from the latter upon the death of the 
hapless Louis XVII., the Queen observes that '' it has 
re-opened wounds that will never be healed " ; and 
the withdrawal of the King of Spain from the 
coalition against France was another blow to her. 

Her health, always delicate, was much affected by 
all the grief, anxiety, and excitement which of late 
years had been her continual portion, but with 
courage and fortitude she bore the burdens laid 
upon her. There was very little rest for her either 
of mind or body, and one of the fatiguing things 
she was obliged to do was to accompany the King 
in his hunting excursions. 

Like her mother, Maria Carolina did not like 
hunting, but, like her, she never allowed her 
personal liking or disliking to interfere with what 
she considered advisable for the welfare of her 
family or the conduct of affairs. 

Notwithstanding the absurd assertions of repub- 
lican writers that Ferdinando hated and loathed his 

^ "Memoires de Louis XVIII." 



230 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

wife, he was anxious that she should be with him in 
his favourite amusement ; and, much as she detested 
the whole thing, ill or well, she would go cheerfully 
with him to the Casino Reale of Carditello, the 
farm and chase in which he delighted, where wild 
boars, stags, and all manner of game abounded. 

**Je dois partir pour toute la journee pour 
Carditello. Ma Sante et ma frele machine n'aiment 
pas ces longues gite, mais il faut obeir, ..." 
she writes to Lad;f Hamilton, weary and ungram- 
matical, in April, 1795. 

It was absolutely necessary, in order to preserve 
the influence she had over Ferdinando, to enter into 
his pursuits and diversions, as she had, by her 
mother's directions, done ever since her first arrival 
at Naples ; and to pretend to take an interest in 
them. 

She would even go to the fish-market to see him 
sell fish, as he did on certain occasions, dressed up 
in a white cap and apron, holding up the fish and 
selling it by auction to the highest bidder, with 
chaff, slang, and coarse jests in the dialect of the 
lazzaroni, who shouted with delight at his speeches. 

The Marchesa Solari describes in her memoirs 
how she went on Christmas Eve with Sir William 
Hamilton to see this spectacle. 

Another favourite entertainment of Ferdinando 
was on the night of Shrove Tuesday, when the 
lazzaroni and all the lowest classes in Naples had 
a right to assemble in the pit of the magnificent 
theatre of San Carlo without paying anything. 

None of the decent, respectable citizens who 
were accustomed to go to the pit went there on that 



MARIA CAROLINA 231 

night, but the boxes were crowded with well-dressed 
people, and in one of those on an upper tier the 
King stood, attended by servants carrying huge 
dishes of hot macaroni dressed with cheese and oil, 
of which he took handfuls with his bare fingers, 
directly it was cool enough not to burn him, and 
flung it down upon the crowds below, who 
scrambled and fought to get it. 

While this was going on the Queen, who did not 
like to see it, sat at the back of her box, but when 
the King had changed his clothes and returned, she 
appeared with him in front of the box and graciously 
acknowledged the salutations and acclamations of 
the lazzaroni. 

As long as they were not poachers the King was 
extremely kind and generous to the peasants ; if 
they were, his wrath was kindled against them. 

All these ways and characteristics of Ferdinando, 
however undignified and unkingly, endeared him to 
the lazzaroni and the lowest classes of his people — 
another proof that people's virtues and vices have 
very little, if anything, to do with their popularity, 
especially amongst the mob. 

Louis XVI. was a man of irreproachable 
character, without vices, eager for reforms and the 
good of his people, who cared nothing about him, 
despised his amusement of making locks and keys, 
and ended in consenting to his ill-treatment and 
murder. 

Ferdinando, good-natured and good-tempered as 
a rule, was profligate, despotic, and, if opposed or 
angered, violent and cruel. But he was adored by 
the lazzaroni and the populace, who would never 



232 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

have allowed him to be put to death publicly in the 
midst of them like his unfortunate brother-in-law. 

Besides the diversions just described, however, he 
was fond of balls, cards, and music. He played and 
sang, though not particularly well, and would spend 
hours over duets with the Queen, Lady Hamilton, 
or the ladies of the Queen's court and household. 

Though Maria Carolina showed such tact and 
skill in the management of Ferdinando, influencing 
him to adopt her opinions and making him think 
they were his own, praising him when he was 
successful in any project and excusing him if he 
failed, this did not, as it would with some women, 
prevent her caring for him. She had never had 
any illusions about him to be destroyed ; from 
the earliest days of their marriage she had seen 
exactly what his character was, and it had in fact 
been a great relief to her to find him no worse. 
The entire success of her plans for his subjugation, 
his admiration and deference for herself, his habitual 
good spirits and good temper, and, later on, their 
mutual interest and delight in their children, their 
joint grief over those they lost, and love for those 
that remained, all combined to draw them together 
in spite of the intrigues and infidelities of Fer- 
dinando, about which, after a time, she ceased to 
trouble herself much, unless the objects of them 
were likely to be dangerous or detrimental, in which 
case she promptly interfered and he yielded. On 
one occasion, indeed, a certain Signora Banti, whose 
conduct and attempts to influence Ferdinando 
gave some uneasiness to the Queen, found herself 
arrested one evening, placed in a travelling carriage, 



MARIA CAROLINA 233 

and conducted across the frontier, safely removed 
from the Neapolitan dominions. When the King 
was ill she nursed him with care and anxiety ; 
whenever she mentioned him in her letters it was 
in terms of consideration and affection. 

" My dear Miledy/' she wrote to Lady Hamilton, 
" I know your heart ; I can therefore give you my 
news from the hospital where I am. Thank God ! 
the King is much better and without fever, the 
eruption is perfect, and he is in good spirits, at ease, 
talks, and causes me no anxiety. Mimi, who is 
covered with it, suffers more, but is in no danger. 
They have put a blister on her. Amelie already 
writes for herself, and is free of the affair. For my- 
self, I have a pain under my arm which I must treat 
and I feel wretched. My dear friend, I dare not see 
you for fear of giving you our infection. The 
English courier has arrived this morning ; nothing 
can be fairer or more polite than everything they 
write to us from London. That would attach me, 
were I not so already for life. A thousand compli- 
ments for the Chevalier. Pity me, my good friend ! 
I need it much, but in what a position do I find 
myself ! Your dear friend for life." 

Whether small-pox, measles, or what was the 
matter with the King and Princesses does not 
appear, but this and all her letters give the idea of 
an affectionate family, on good and friendly terms 
with each other.^ 

The reign of Ferdinando and Carolina of Naples 
may be divided into two periods, absolutely different 
in their characteristics. The minority of Ferdinando, 
* " The Queen of Naples and Lord Nelson " (Jeaffreson). 



234 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

under the sway of Tanucci; forms another period 
with which this book has, of course, no concern. 
The years from 1768 till 1791 were those of a happy 
and prosperous reign. The King and Queen were 
popular, powerful, and happy, their government 
was paternal and beneficent, the people w^ere con- 
tented and loyal, reforms and improvements of 
every description were continually going on, and 
the kingdom arrived at the height of its splendour 
and prosperity. 

The breaking out of the French Revolution put 
an end to all this. The murder of Marie Antoinette 
embittered and changed the character of Maria 
Carolina and filled her whole soul with a deep, 
passionate longing for revenge upon the French, 
and upon the Jacobins of whatever nation. The 
conspiracies and attacks directed against him 
aroused in Ferdinando those dark passions of 
hatred, cruelty, violence, and tyranny which had 
hitherto been hidden under a genial manner, a care- 
less good-humour, and an easygoing kindliness. 

From henceforth their lives and their kingdoms 
were filled with a succession of calamities, tragedies, 
and crimes, which made the latter years of their 
reign as disastrous as the former were fortunate. 



CHAPTER XV 

The Queen's justice — An Ambassador of the RepubHc— Marriage 
of the Duke of Calabria — A patched-up peace— The battle of 
the Nile— The English fleet at Naples— Declaration of war — 
Exciting times — Ferdinand enters Rome — Disasters and 
defeats — Approach of the enemy — Horrors and dangers — 
Preparations for flight. 

THE enormous number of persons arrested, the 
alarm and confusion everywhere rife, caused 
such intolerable delay in the trials that the un- 
fortunate and often innocent prisoners languished 
for months and even for years in their dungeons 
without being able to be heard. One day two 
ladies, one a venerable woman of great age, the 
other just past her youth, both dressed in deep 
mourning, presented themselves at the palace and 
asked for an audience. They w^ere the Duchess of 
Cassano and the Princess Colonna, who, over- 
whelmed with grief, had come to entreat the Queen 
to show mercy upon their unfortunate sons, who 
for four years had languished in prison, saying that 
they scarcely knew whether they were alive or dead, 
and conjuring the Queen by her love for her own 
children and by the mercy of God to listen to 
them. 

On the Queen's asking if they were guilty, the 
235 



236 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

Duchess and Princess solemnly assured her that 
they were innocent, and then, overcome by their 
grief, took their leave. 

The Queen was deeply moved and began to doubt 
whether there might not be innocent and unjustly 
treated persons detained in the prisons of the State. 
She gave orders that they were to be brought to fair 
trial immediately, and that no further delay was to 
be suffered, in consequence of which, twenty-eight 
of the accused, many of them nobles or learned 
men, amongst whom were Colonna, Cassano, and 
Medici, were acquitted and set at liberty.^ 

The rapid successes of Buonaparte and the 
defeat of the Austrians at length obliged the King 
and Queen of Naples to agree to an armistice 
offered by the victorious general, and terms of 
peace were arranged. The treaty was a most dis- 
advantageous one for Naples, an indemnity of eight 
million francs to be paid to the French Republic 
being one of the stipulations. 

However, neither France nor Naples had any 
intention of observing the treaty a moment longer 
than it should suit their convenience to do so, and 
meanwhile both powers looked forward to future 
vengeance. 

^' On the 8th of December, 1796, arrived the news 
of peace for Naples with cursed France," as Lady 
Hamilton wrote on the back of a letter. 

Maria Carolina was in despair ; everything looked 
black around her. The King of Spain had written 
in the previous September to his brother that he 

* " Konigin Karolina von Neapel und Sicilien " (Helfert) ; " Storia 
del Reame di Napoli " (Colletta). 



MARIA CAROLINA 237 

was about to ally himself with France to make 
war upon England. The Queen sent this letter by 
Lady Hamilton to Sir William,^ who at once wrote 
to warn the English Government. The ambassa- 
dor at first sent by France to Naples was a man 
of refined, courtly manners, who was received with 
politeness and relief by the court and corps diplo- 
matique. But he was very soon withdrawn, and 
replaced by a brutal, ignorant, conceited ruffian 
named Trouve, with manners so outrageous that it 
was impossible to associate with him. He knew 
nothing, of course, about the customs of a court, 
and refused to comply with them when they were 
pointed out to him. He would not kiss the King's 
hand, he refused to rise when the King and Queen 
entered the theatre, and was only with difficulty 
persuaded to do so by the other ambassadors. 

His despatches were couched in uncouth, 
insolent language, he tried to interfere in the 
affairs of Naples, he was furious at not being called 
*' citoyen," and soon he was looked upon with such 
detestation and loathing that scarcely anybody 
would salute him or speak to him, and the French 
government was obliged to recall him. 

But they sent in his place another odious person, 
who, if less violently offensive, was a vain, pompous 
idiot, troublesome, intolerable, and totally devoid of 
any knowledge of diplomacy.^ 

^ In after years Lady Hamilton made the absurd boast that she 
had persuaded the Queen to do so, and that the Queen had '* stolen 
it out of the King's pocket." As the Queen was all-powerful with 
the King and in the government, this ridiculous statement needs 
no comment. 

' A. Bonnefonds. 



238 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

It will be remembered that in 1790, when the two 
eldest daughters of the King and Queen of Naples 
had been married to the Austrian Crown Prince, 
now Emperor of Germany, and the Grand-duke of 
Tuscany, the Prince Royal of Naples had been 
betrothed to the Archduchess Clementine, a 
younger daughter of the Emperor Leopold. 

Owing to the tender age of these children the 
marriage could not take place at that time, but the 
Prince Royal being now nineteen and the Arch- 
duchess fifteen years old, it was decided that 
their wedding should be celebrated in June, 1797, 
at Foggia, where the royal family accordingly 
awaited the Archduchess, who was to sail from 
Trieste. 

Like Maria Carolina herself nearly thirty years 
before, the young princess dreaded her marriage, 
and lamented over her exile from her native 
Germany. 

The Prince Royal, Duke of Calabria, was, in spite 
of all his mother's efforts and care for his education, 
stupid and without cultivated tastes, caring for 
little but sport and outdoor pursuits, and whether 
Clementine had misgivings about him, through 
what she might have heard, or through the letters 
he occasionally wrote, or whether it was only a 
young girl's natural sorrow and reluctance to leave 
her own family and country for what she con- 
sidered a life of exile, Clementine cried bitterly 
when she saw the Italian ships which had come to 
Trieste to fetch her, and had to be persuaded to go 
on board. 

She appears, however, to have got on very well 



MARIA CAROLINA 239 

with her young husband, to have been a great 
favourite with the royal family and the people, 
especially the lazzarorii, and to have held her little 
court or society merrily and happily.^ 

But it was widely different from the brilliant 
prospect with which Maria Carolina and Ferdi- 
nando had begun their married life. Treachery 
at home and danger from without clouded the 
horizon and filled the mind of everyone. There 
was an atmosphere of suspicion : everyone dis- 
trusted everyone else, no one would speak upon 
any but the most indifferent subjects, arrests were 
still frequent, people kept disappearing in a mys- 
terious manner, and were supposed to be immured 
in the prisons of the state. 

Buonaparte had seized Malta, Berthier had 
marched upon Rome, Pius VII. had fled, and in 
spite of the treaty still subsisting between the two 
countries the presence of the French troops in 
Rome caused great uneasiness at Naples, besides 
the indignation aroused by the treatment of the 
Pope. 

The French fleet, with General Buonaparte, after 
taking possession of Malta, had proceeded to 
Egypt. The Queen kept up a secret correspon- 
dence with London, and was anxious that the 
English fleet should be within reach in case of an 
attempt upon Naples or Sicily. Lady Hamilton 
wrote for her to Lord St. Vincent, who replied that 
the Queen was to be of good cheer, as a knight of 
superior prowess (Sir Horatio Nelson) had already 
been charged to preserve her from harm. Sir 
« I-Ielfert. 



240 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

William Hamilton also received notice that Nelson 
would soon be on his way to the protection of the 
Two Sicilies. The celebrated Cornelia Knight, 
afterwards governess to Charlotte, Princess of 
Wales, who with her mother. Lady Knight, escaped 
from Rome when it was occupied by the French 
troops, and was at this time living in Naples, writes 
as follows : 

" Our conversation by day and our dreams 
by night had for their sole and only subject 
the meeting of the hostile fleets. 

" The court of Naples had not publicly renounced 
its neutrality, though its dislike of the common 
enemy and its wishes for the success of the allies 
were well-known to all parties. The common 
people generally agreed with the court, but many 
of the young nobles were infected with the revolu- 
tionary spirit. Endowed with more imagination 
than judgment, and greatly addicted to dissipation, 
they were anxious to throw off all inconvenient 
trammels, or, if led by their genius to nobler 
pursuits, they were captivated by the false theories 
of the philosophers then in fashion, and who had 
been among the first victims to the revolution they 
had evoked. It must also be borne in mind . . . 
that there existed two opposite national parties. 
Although the war of 1745 had placed the Spanish 
branch of the house of Bourbon on the throne, the 
Queen herself was an Austrian, and was supposed 
to be partial to her native country. The Spanish 
families established in the Two Sicilies ^ and the ad- 

* Among the Spanish nobles settled at Naples were the four 
great families of Arragon, Duke of Novino, Marquis of Santo 



MARIA CAROLINA 241 

herents of Spain were secretly if not avowedly her 
enemies. ... It is but just, however, to remark 
that amongst those who were warmly attached to 
their party there were many who, disgusted by the 
system of cruelty and irreligion then prevailing in 
France, felt a natural horror in the presence of the 
revolutionary agents and heartily wished for their 
expulsion from the country. The Italians in 
general were well affected towards the English, and 
certainly the majority of the inhabitants of Naples 
anticipated with pleasure the arrival of a British 
fleet. 

^'Our telescope was constantly directed towards 
the entrance of the beautiful bay, the prospect of 
which we so perfectly enjoyed from our windows."^ 

On May 21st, Nelson had received a letter 
desiring him to proceed with a powerful squadron 
" in quest of the armament preparing at Toulon and 
Genoa, the object whereof appears to be either an 
attack upon Naples and Sicily, the conveyance of 
an army to some part of the coast of Spain for the 
purpose of marching towards Portugal, or to pass 
through the Straits with a view of proceeding to 
Ireland," which armament he was directed to '^take, 
sink, burn, or destroy." 

The alarm and anxiety of the Queen was there- 
fore very well grounded, and it was no wonder that 
she waited in suspense for news of Nelson and his 
fleet. 

'' May the breeze and the good God bless the 

Mario, Counts of Accarra and Avilos. They all walked together in 
the procession of the Corpus Christi (Swinburne). 
' Autobiography of Miss Cornelia Knight. 

17 



242 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

English and accompany them ! My vows and 
prayers follow them, and I long for the moment 
when all our forces and means will help them, . . ." 
she wrote to Lady Hamilton, and, as Mr. Jeaffreson 
points out, it could not have been true that Lady 
Hamilton, as she made Nelson believe, and as in 
after years she used to boast, persuaded the Queen 
to obtain from the King the order to revictual the 
English fleet, which they were longing to help, 
and from which they hoped for their own 
deliverance.^ 

In full pursuit of the French fleet, Nelson wanted 
provision for his ships, and sent a message to the 
Queen through Lady Hamilton, asking permission 
to revictual at Syracuse. This was, of course, a 
breach of neutrality, but Maria Carolina did not 
hesitate. She appealed to the King and obtained 
from him an order to the Governor of Syracuse to 
revictual all Nelson's ships, and her doing so 
enabled him to win the battle of the Nile. But 
surely no one knowing anything of the character of 
the Queen of Naples, her vows of vengeance against 
the murderers of her sister, the desperate position 
in which she was placed, her courage and indomit- 
able resolution, would believe that she required any 



* In after years Lady Hamilton, in the days of her fallen fortunes, 
was in the habit of making many false statements to exalt the 
prestige of her past associations. So absurd were her assertions, 
and so exaggerated her idea of her own importance and influence, 
that she used to believe, or at any rate to say, that it was she who 
had influenced the Queen in favour of England and detached her 
from Spain, though the Queen had destroyed Spanish influence at 
Naples and had an English Prime Minister many years before 
Emma Hart ever set foot in her dominions. 



MARIA CAROLINA 243 

persuasion at all in the matter. She was eager and 
delighted to do any possible thing to help the cause 
she loved and punish the enemy she hated; and that 
she did on this occasion experience the joy of 
retribution is certain, for Nelson, his ships pro- 
visioned by order of the King through her influence, 
sailed from Syracuse, overtook the French fleet in 
Aboukir Bay, and destroyed it ; leaving the best 
army of the republic detained in the deserts of 
Africa. 

'* The English fleet under my command," wrote 
Nelson, *' would never have been able to return the 
second time to Egypt if the influence of Lady 
Hamilton over the Queen of Naples had not 
obtained letters to be written to the Governor 
of Syracuse ordering him entirely to revictual. 
Arriving at Syracuse, we received all provisions. 
From thence I sailed for Egypt, where I destroyed 
the French fleet.— Nelson." ^ 

Miss Knight describes in simple but graphic lan- 
guage the arrival at Naples of the news of the 
victory of the Nile : how she was sitting reading 
to her mother at the window when they discerned 
a sloop of war in the offing, how they eagerly 
watched through the telescope as it approached, 
how they perceived the blue ensign and gold 
epaulettes, the commotion as the two officers got 
into a boat and were brought to shore, the gestures 

* Lady Hamilton's absurd boasts in after years as to what she 
did and induced every one else to do, were addressed to many 
persons besides Nelson. As time went on, her vainglorious 
fancies became more and more preposterous ; she appeared to 
believe she had been the mling power at the court of Naples. 



244 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

of the sailors, representing the sinking and blowing 
up of ships, the appearance of Captain Hoste and 
Captain Capel with despatches from Nelson for Sir 
William Hamilton and for England. 

"The battle of the Nile had been fought and won. 
Never, perhaps, was a victory more complete 1 . . . 
Old General di Pietra . . . lived in a house adjoining 
our hotel, and there was a door of communication 
between them. He had been very attentive to us 
and we met excellent society at his table, for he 
delighted in giving dinner-parties. We knew his 
anxiety to receive the earliest accounts of the 
meeting of the two fleets, and my mother desired 
me to give him the first intelligence. I ran to the 
door, and the servant w^ho opened it, and to whom 
I delivered my message, uttered exclamations of joy 
which were heard in the dining-room, where the 
General was entertaining a large party of officers. 
The secretary was instantly sent to me, and I was 
obliged to go in and tell my story. Never shall I 
forget the shouts, the bursts of applause, the toasts 
drunk, the glasses broken one after another by the 
secretary in token of exultation, till the General, 
laughing heartily, stopped him by saying that he 
should not have a glass left to drink Nelson's health 
in on his arrival. 

^'The first care of Sir William Hamilton was to 
take Captain Capel to the palace. The King and 
Queen were at dinner with their children, as was 
their custom, for they dined very early. As soon 
as the King heard the good news he started up, 
embraced the Queen, the Princes, the Princesses, 
and exclaimed : 




B A 'rTI< F, (w TiiK N I L E, 



J 



To face p. 244, 



MARIA CAROLINA 245 

''' Oh, my children, you are now safe ! ' 

"The Cardinal of York was then at Naples, 
having fled from Rome to avoid falling into the 
hands of the French. He was told of the news 
by Sir William Hamilton, who introduced Captain 
Capel, saying : 

'^'This gentleman, a brother of Lord Essex, was 
in the action, and is going home immediately with 
the despatches.' 

**'In that case, sir,' said the Cardinal to Captain 
Capel, 'when you arrive in England, do me the 
favour to say that no man rejoices more sincerely 
than I do in the success of the British navy.' " ^ 

When the news of the victory spread, Naples 
was transported with joy. The city, especially 
the houses of the English, was illuminated for 
three days, everywhere was an air of festivity, in 
every quarter were heard acclamations and cheers 
for England. 

On the 22nd of September the sails of the 
victorious fleet were descried upon the horizon. 

A tumult of excitement filled the city as the 
stately ships approached, the flag of England 
floating from their masts and the captive warships 
of France following in their wake. 

Hurriedly the King, the English Ambassador and 
his wife embarked on ships decorated as if for a 
gala and went out to meet the conqueror, who 
received on board his own ship their enthusiastic 
welcome. The Ambassador thanked him in the 
name of England, and the King presented him 
with a splendid sword. The Queen afterwards, 
* Autobiography of Cornelia Knight. 



246 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

among other things, gave him a jewel on which 
was inscribed ^^ To the hero of Aboukir." 

All Naples waited to watch the fleet come into 
the bay and then rushed to the palace to see 
Nelson. 

In the evening there was a grand representation 
at the San Carlo, w^hich was illuminated as for a 
national rejoicing. As the King and court entered, 
accompanied by Nelson, the nobles and ladies 
wearing ribbons and girdles on which the inscrip- 
tion "Viva Nelson" was set with jewels, the vast 
crowd that filled the immense theatre burst into 
frantic shouts and cries, in which mingled cheers 
for the King and Queen, for Nelson, for England, 
applause for the victory, and curses on the French. 

The few ships which had escaped in a battered 
condition to Sicily had been plundered or driven 
away, the fleet with its captives was at anchor in the 
bay, the city was in a delirium of joy and triumph. 

War was again declared with France, against 
which a new confederation had been formed. 
England, Germany, Russia, and the Two Sicilies 
were arming ; troops and stores were hastily raised 
and collected ; Naples was filled with the excite- 
ment and bustle of warlike preparations. 

General Mack arrived from Austria to take com- 
mand ; there were reviews of the troops, councils 
and consultations in Naples and at Caserta, in 
which Nelson, Sir William Hamilton and General 
Mack took part, and in which the Queen, supported 
by the English, strongly urged the immediate 
invasion of Rome. 

It was a time of intense anxiety and excitement to 



MARIA CAROLINA 247 

Maria Carolina, who was, of course, transported 
with joy at the new aspect of affairs. 

" I am wild with joy, my dear Miledy I " she wrote 
to Lady Hamilton, when the news came of the Nile. 
^* I embrace my children, my husband. . . . 

^' My children, all who belong to me, feel all that 
they owe you and are wild with joy. . . ." 

She removed with her court to San Germano, 
where the troops were encamped, and stayed there 
for weeks, driving or riding through the lines in 
a blue riding-habit, with gold fleurs-de-lys at the 
neck and a general's hat with a white plume. 

Nelson had returned from Malta, where he had 
been, and Miss Knight records in her journal : 
^' Novem.ber 5, 1798. — Appeared in sight Admiral 
Nelson in the Vanguard . . . the Admiral came on 
shore in the afternoon and went immediately to 
Caserta, where he was scarce arrived when the 
hereditary Princess was brought to bed of a 
daughter, bells ringing, guns firing, &c." 

Nelson, who was there occasionally and appeared 
now and then at the reviews, watched General Mack 
with disapprobation, and one day, observing that he 
had allowed himself to be surrounded by the troops 
of ^' the enemy," he exclaimed contemptuously : 
*' That fellow doesn't understand his business ! " 

It was, of course, only too true. Mack was a 
pompous fool, utterly incapable, and with neither 
sympathy for nor influence over his soldiers. 

The troops marched to Rome, which the French 
evacuated for the time, and Ferdinando, taking up 
his quarters at the Farnesina, wrote to the Pope 
begging him to return. 



248 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

But the success was of short duration. Before 
the middle of December disastrous tidings were 
sent day after day of lost battles, troops, guns, 
horses, standards, and stores ; and Ferdinando 
returned to Naples in disguise in the carriage of 
the Duke d'Ascoli, with whom he had changed 
clothes. 

*' If Mack is defeated this country is lost," wrote 
Nelson to Lord St. Vincent ; '' for the Emperor 
has not yet moved his army, and if the Emperor 
will not march, this country has not the power 
of resisting the PYench." 

Events very soon proved the truth of his words. 
The Neapolitan troops fled in all directions; the 
Jacobins in Naples, filled with joy, sent messengers 
to the French general, Championnet, who was 
marching forward, to beg him to hasten and give 
him all information about the strength and position 
of their native city, which they were eager to deliver 
into the hands of the foreigner. This infuriated 
the lazzaroni and the rest of the lowest classes, more 
loyal and patriotic, but fierce, unruly, and savage. 
There were continual quarrels and fights between 
them and the Jacobins, bloodshed and murder went 
on in the streets, the police lost control and nerve, 
and very soon the city was a scene of rioting. 

Even now, more than a hundred years after the 
time of these events, the populace of Naples is 
strangely behind those of more northern cities in 
the very elements of civilisation. 

During the last epidemic of cholera, not much 
more than twenty years ago, it was reported and 
believed that the people were being poisoned by 



MARIA CAROLINA 249 

the doctors. Others, who did not share this behef, 
but were scarcely more enlightened, would not take 
their medicine unless the doctor gave them five 
francs. 

At a small town somewhere in that neigh- 
bourhood which was infected by cholera, it was 
decided not to allow the trains to stop, which so 
offended and enraged the inhabitants that they 
collected in groups at the station to throw stones 
and hoot at the train as it passed. Their cruelty 
to animals is also only worthy of a savage country. 

The horrors of such a mob, excited, enraged, and 
let loose in furious riots, can hardly be imagined. 
In their rage against the French invaders and the 
treachery of the Jacobins they began to attack 
all the houses whose owners were known to be 
of the party of the Revolution, or where they 
thought any Frenchmen might be hidden. They 
sacked the houses and ill-treated or murdered 
those w^hom they suspected. An unfortunate King's 
messenger, Antonio Ferretti (or Ferresi), who was 
going from the town to the harbour, carrying 
despatches to one of the British ships, had the 
rashness to ask in French for a boat.^ He was 
seized by the furious multitude, declared to be a 
French spy or at least a Jacobin traitor, murdered 
and dragged through the streets under the very 
windows of the palace, where Ferdinando, hearing 
the tumult and going out into the balcony to see 
what was the matter, recognised with horror the 
dead or dying man, but was unable to make the least 
impression upon the maddened, raving multitude. 
» Helfert. 



aso A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

Championnet was on his march towards Naples, 
which the Jacobin party were waiting to deliver 
into his hands. The fate of Marie Antoinette and 
the French royal family threatened Maria Carolina, 
her husband, and children, and foreseeing this, the 
Queen had for the last few days been preparing for 
flight. 

Her most trustworthy servants had, under her 
supervision, packed up clothes and valuables, which 
in the darkness of night had been taken down to 
the docks or to the British Embassy, where they 
were consigned to the care of Lady Hamilton to 
be passed on to Lord Nelson. 

The Hamiltons and Mrs. Cadogan were packing 
up all Sir William's most valuable antiquities and 
artistic treasures, which were sent to London.^ 

" My Dear Miledy," wrote the Queen. " Behold 
three more portmanteaus and a litde box. In the 
first three there is a little linen for all my children, 
for use on board, and in the box some petticoats. 
I trust I am not imprudent in sending them to you. 
The remainder of what can go shall go by a 
Sicilian vessel, as I do not wish to inconvenience 
you. Believe me to be for life your grateful and 
faithful friend. I hope to see you to-morrow 
evening with our dear and precious Admiral " 
(December i8, 1798). 

And on the following day these two letters 
and more boxes : 

" My Dear Miledy, — I abuse your goodness 
and our brave Admiral's goodness. Let the great 
boxes be thrown in the hold and the little ones 
* "The Queen of Naples and Lord Nelson" (Jeaffreson.) 



MARIA CAROLINA 251 

be near at hand. It is so because I have un- 
fortunately an immense family. I am in the 
despair of desolation and my tears flow incessantly. 
The blow, its suddenness have bewildered me, and 
I do not think I shall ever recover from it. . . . My 
son has returned from Capua and tells horrors of 
the flying troops. ... I would commit myself to 
the Divine Providence . . . but the moment is 
deadly. ..." 

^'My Dear Miledy, — The dangers increase. 
Aquila is taken with six hundred men, to the ever- 
lasting shame of our country. Mack writes in despair. 
The weather seems favourable, and therefore the 
King is urgent. I am in bewilderment and despair, 
as this changes entirely our estate — being life and 
position — everything that shaped my ideas and 
those of my family for life. I do not know where 
my head is. This evening I will send some other 
boxes and clothes for my numerous family and 
myself, for it is for life. Tell me frankly whether I 
may send our trunks this evening by a trusty man, 
Lalo or Saresio. ..." 

In a third letter written on the following day the 
Queen says : 

^'The popular tumults (attended with) the slaughter 
of people are a sure indication of more mischief to 
come. That will grow daily, and I tremble at the 
atrocities that will be perpetrated by a people who 
do not defend themselves against the enemy, but 
will allow themselves all the horrors of the most 
unbridled licence." ^ 

* These letters, given by Mr. Jeaffreson in his book on "The 
Queen of Naples and Lord Nelson," show, as he points out, the 



252 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

Upon the envelope of this last letter is written in 
Lady Hamilton's hajidwriting : 

"December 21, 1798. — God protect us this night." 

absurdity of Lady Hamilton's boast, many years afterwards, that it 
was she who persuaded and helped the Queen and royal family 
to escape, she who packed up all their things — she, in fact, who did 
everything and directed everybody. 



CHAPTER XVI 

Alarming state of things — Escape of the royal family — Terrible 
storm — Death of Prince Carlo Alberto — Arrival at Palermo — 
Adventures of Lady Knight and her daughter — Perils and 
hardships — Palermo — Lovely scenery — Loyal Sicily — Death of 
the Archduchess Christine — The Parthenopeian Republic — 
Departure of Caracciolo— The King's warning. 

AS they possessed another country and another 
capital in which they could take refuge, and 
as, if Naples was full of traitors and rebels, Palermo 
was loyal, it was there that the King and Queen 
naturally intended to go. 

" From the i8th," wrote Nelson to Lord St. 
Vincent (December 28th), "various plans were 
formed for the removal of the royal family from 
the palace to the waterside. On the 19th I received 
a note from General Acton, saying that the King 
approved of my plan for their embarkation. This 
day, the 2oth-2ist, very large assemblies of people 
were in commotion, and several people killed, and 
one dragged by his legs to the palace. The mob by 
the 20th were very unruly, and insisted the royal 
family should not leave Naples. However, they 
were pacified by the King and Queen speaking to 
them." ^ 

' "The Queen of Naples and Lord Nelson " (Jeaffreson). 
253 



254 ^ SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

It is difficult to see any justice or reason in the 
abuse poured by various writers upon the King 
and Queen for " deserting " the capital, where their 
position was a terrible one. 

The Neapolitan troops, beaten and scattered, 
had just proved their inability to defend themselves 
against the victorious armies of France, now ad- 
vancing upon them. 

Naples was a prey to violent factions — the 
lazzaroni and lowest class of the populace, loyal to 
the King but savage and ungovernable, and the 
Jacobins, steeped in treachery, and eagerly wait- 
ing to deliver their city into the hands of the 
French. 

That Maria Carolina should have dreaded the 
fate of her sister and brother-in-law for her husband 
and herself, and that of the unfortunate Dauphin 
for her children, cannot be surprising. She re- 
membered perfectly well how Louis XVI. had 
refused to fly when he could have saved himself 
and his family, and waited until it was too late. 
She felt convinced that if they stayed they would 
fall into the hands of her sister's murderers. Nelson 
urged their departure. 

Like most sanguine, impetuous people, Maria 
Carolina was subject to reaction and depression, 
and she believed that she was leaving Naples 
for ever. 

Ferdinando, on the contrary, never thought any 
such thing, but declared that he should soon come 
back again with a large army, which, in his opinion, 
he could organise much better in loyal Sicily, where 
he would be safe and free, than in Naples, honey- 



MARIA CAROLINA 255 

combed with treachery and overrun by a powerful 
enemy. 

Another grievance against Ferdinando and Maria 
Carolina is that they took away with them all 
the property which could be removed, not only 
from their palaces at Naples and Caserta, but the 
treasures of the State, gold from the Mint and 
banks, objects of art and antiquity from the 
Museum — everything, in fact, which they could 
bestow on board the ships — English, Portuguese, 
and Neapolitan — then at anchor in the bay. 

Ought they then to have fled penniless into exile, 
without means to carry on the government and 
court, or provide for the defence of their new 
capital ? Ought they to have left their works of 
art to be carried to Paris, and their treasures or 
those of the State to fall into the hands of the 
French ? 

Twenty vessels, merchantmen and transport, were 
loaded with treasure and thronged with members of 
the court, society, and adherents of the King. At 
nine o'clock on the evening of December 21st the 
royal family secretly went on board Nelson's ship, 
the Vanguard, which, with two Neapolitan warships, 
one of which was commanded by Admiral Caracciolo, 
was to form the escort. 

For two days and nights they waited about in the 
bay of Naples while the convoy was preparing for 
the voyage. At last, all being ready, the Vanguard 
first, and afterwards the rest of the long procession 
of ships, set sail for Sicily. But the wind, hitherto 
favourable, now changed : the ships were scattered, 
some taking refuge at Malta, others in Calabria. 



256 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

A violent blast struck the Vanguard^ tearing her 
sails to pieces. The courtiers in terror crowded 
into the state cabin occupied by the royal party. 
Nearly everybody was dreadfully seasick, except 
Lady Hamilton, who, being an excellent sailor, was 
invaluable in helping the Queen, whose attendants 
were all prostrate, and especially in looking after 
the royal children, who were very fond of her, and 
whom she nursed and comforted as well as she 
could. They were all very ill, and the youngest, 
Prince Carlo Alberto, a delicate child of seven, died 
from exhaustion the night before they arrived at 
their destination. 

The bay of Palermo is by many pronounced to 
be more beautiful than that of Naples, and the 
approach to the lovely shores is eagerly watched by 
those who, on a bright summer morning or an 
evening golden and crimson with the sunset, or 
brilliant under the light of the southern moon, 
glide over its waters. But in the darkness of a 
winter morning before dawn, ill, miserable, and 
exhausted, no such consolation awaited the fugi- 
tives. Thankful to have arrived, however, the 
Queen and her children lost no time in landing 
in their new home, and before five o'clock a.m. 
they went on shore under the escort of Nelson, 
and entered the royal palace. 

Exhausted by all she had gone through, to which 
the death of her child had added another blow, 
the Queen retired to bed with a violent headache 
and cold on the chest, and sent for the doctors, 
who bled and physicked her until it was a wonder 
she got well at all. 



MARIA CAROLINA 257 

The Hamiltons had taken a house, to which Maria 
CaroHna sent a letter begging that certain boxes of 
clothes might be sent her at once, as on Sunday 
they would have to receive many people. 

Ferdinando, on the contrary, was perfectly self- 
possessed. He was too affectionate a father not to 
have grieved for the loss of his boy ; but as regards 
other matters he declared they would come right 
again, and that their stay in the island would not be 
a long one. Meanwhile, the country was excellent 
for sporting purposes, and he had taken care that 
among the passengers from Caserta and Naples 
were his favourite dogs. 

In order that they might not fall into the hands 
of the enemy, all the warships left at Naples, and 
some that had returned from Sicily, were set on 
fire, and an immense quantity of gunpowder and 
other stores thrown into the sea. 

This terrible destruction of the splendid fleet 
which had been the pride of the Queen's heart 
was a fearful blow. Nothing but disaster seemed 
to surround them, though they had been received 
with joy and loyalty by the Sicilians, high 
and low. 

Rabid and violent assailants of Maria Carolina 
declare that on the voyage to Sicily Ferdinando 
cursed and swore, and accused the Queen of being 
the cause of all these misfortunes by her ambition 
and mistaken policy. This, however, is not corro- 
borated by less violent and bitter enemies. General 
Colletta merely says that the King looked at her 
with indignant glances amidst his prayers and vows 
to San Gennaro and San Francesco. 

i3 



258 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

Miss Knight and her mother were among those 
who fled from Naples. The following is the account 
she gives of their experiences at the time : 

^' Like a dark cloud announcing a tremendous 
storm, the enemy kept gradually approaching. . . . 
The populace of Naples, and many of the higher 
orders, indeed, stoutly affirmed that they would 
never suffer their King and his family to fall into 
the hands of the enemy ; but still it was thought 
more prudent to make preparations for departure. 
Unfortunately there was no English ship of war 
then in the bay except that which bore the flag of 
Lord Nelson and a frigate with a Turkish am- 
bassador on board, attended by a numerous suite. 
A Portuguese squadron, however, was lying there, 
and also a line Neapolitan man-of-war, commanded 
by Prince Caracciolo, and likewise another ship of 
the line ; but it was the opinion of the court that 
although the ballli himself was trustworthy, the 
same reliance could not be placed in his crew. It 
was therefore resolved that the royal family should 
go with Lord Nelson. 

" How far these suspicions were well founded I 
cannot say, but I have no doubt that this step 
hastened the desertion of Prince Caracciolo.^ 

^' We met him about this time at General di Pietra's, 

* In an earlier passage in her book Miss Knight says of 
Caracciolo : " That unfortunate man had . . . conceived a jealous 
resentment against the hero of the Nile. ... He told me that . . . 
in the engagement off Corsica . . . Nelson had passed before 
him contrary to the directions previously issued. This he thought 
very unfair, as British officers had frequent opportunities of dis- 
tinguishing themselves, which was not the case with his own 
service." 



MARIA CAROLINA 259 

and I never saw a man look so utterly miserable. 
He scarcely uttered a word, ate nothing, and did 
not even unfold his napkin. However, he took the 
ships safe to Messina, where they were laid up in 
ordinary. . . . 

''We were informed of it [the intended departure 
of the King and Queen] by Sir William Hamilton, 
but with injunctions of strict secrecy. . . . We packed 
up everything as quietly as possible. We dared not 
venture out, as we knew not at what time we might 
be sent for to embark, and we were equally ignorant 
of the destination of our voyage. 

'' The populace had become very riotous, crowding 
about the King's palace and beseeching him not to 
leave them. It was unsafe for strangers to be in the 
streets unless well known, for all foreigners were 
liable to be mistaken for Frenchmen. Day after 
day passed away in anxious expectation, until one 
evening, just as we were retiring to rest, an officer 
from Lord Nelson's ship, attended by some seamen, 
made his appearance, and told us that a boat was 
waiting to take us on board. We hastily paid our 
bill, and sent an ambiguous message to our Roman 
friends which would put them on their guard. We 
then accompanied the officer to the shore. Both he 
and his men were armed. 

'' The night was cold, for we were in December 
(21st), and it was between twelve and one before we 
were in the boat. There were several people in it 
already, and an English child fell into the water, 
but was taken out unhurt. We had a long way to 
go, for the ships had cast anchor at a great distance 
from the city, to be beyond the range of the forts in 



26o A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

the event of treachery or surprise. When we came 
alongside the Admiral's ship, the captain, Sir Thomas 
Hardy, stepped into the boat, and told my mother 
that the ship was so full there was no room for us. 
In vain we entreated to be taken on board. The 
thing was impossible. We must take our passage 
in a Portuguese man-of-war, commanded by an 
Englishman, who had been a master in our navy, 
but had now the rank of commodore. 

^^ There was no alternative, but we were some 
time before we reached the ship to which we 
had been consigned. The young midshipman who 
conducted us was constantly jumping about in 
the boat to keep himself from falling asleep, for 
during the last forty-eight hours he had been 
unceasingly engaged in getting the baggage and 
numerous attendants of the royal family on 
board. 

^'We reached our destination about two in the 
morning, and were ushered into the chief cabin, 
where we found many ladies of different 
countries. Only one, a Russian lady of high 
rank and great wealth, had a bed to sleep on, 
the others being obliged to content themselves 
with mattresses on the floor. We now learned 
that we were bound for Palermo, and it was a 
great satisfaction to us to receive this confirma- 
tion of our previous hopes. 

^' The manners of the commodore were by no 
means prepossessing, but he was apparently 
annoyed at having his ship so crowded with 
helpless passengers. All the ships of the Portu- 
guese squadron were commanded by Englishmen 



MARIA CAROLINA 261 

except the flagship, the captain of which was a 
French emigrant nobleman. . . , 

^' After an uncomfortable night we rose to witness 
so violent a storm that no communication could 
take place between the ships. We obtained, how- 
ever, a small cabin for our exclusive use, which was 
an unspeakable comfort. 

^^ On the following morning, the weather being 
more calm, we perceived on Lord Nelson's ship the 
signal for sailing, but on none of the others. Our 
feeling of desertion is not to be described. . . . 
Presently we perceived a barge making towards us. 
It was that of Captain Hardy, whom Lord Nelson 
had sent with a message to my mother expressive 
of his concern that he could not take us on board 
his own ship, and informing us that the Culloden, 
Captain Troubridge, was shortly expected from 
Leghorn, and would, if we wished it, convey us 
to Palermo. Captain Hardy then returned to his 
ship, and soon after we saw the anchor weighed, 
and Lord Nelson, with the King and Queen and 
royal family of Naples, sailed out of the bay. It is 
impossible for any one who has not been in 
similar circumstances to imagine the feeling of 
helpless abandonment which I then experienced. 
Accustomed to look up to our squadron as our sole 
protection, having no confidence in the persons 
with whom we were left, and hearing of nothing 
but revolutionary horrors, I was really miserable." 

From the discomforts and miseries of the 
Portuguese ship Lady Knight, her daughter, and 
two Cardinals with whom they had made friends 
on board were rescued by Captain Wilmot, of the 



262 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

Alliance, who came in from a cruise on the 24th — 
Christmas Eve — and offered to take them in his ship 
to Palermo next day. 

On the morning of Christmas Day, accordingly, 
they went on board, but another tremendous storm 
arose before they had proceeded far on their 
voyage, which forced them to return to their old 
moorings. Next morning the Portuguese Admiral 
who was commander-in-chief at that station, 
hearing of their return, sent for Captain Wilmot 
to help in the work that was being pressed on of 
saving whatever stores in the dockyard had not been 
yet sent to Sicily, but could still be removed. 
Everything that could not was destroyed to prevent 
its falling into the hands of the French. Lord 
Nelson's chaplain, who had been accidentally left 
behind, came on board, and at last they got off, and, 
as Miss Knight continues : 

*^ After a voyage of thirty hours arrived in sight of 
Palermo. Accustomed as I had been to the lovely 
and magnificent scenery of Italy, I was not less 
surprised than delighted at the picturesque beauty 
of the Sicilian coast. Then, when the prospect of 
the city opened upon us, with the regal elegance of 
its marble palaces and the fanciful singularity of its 
remaining specimens of Saracenic architecture, it 
was like a fairy scene. . . . 

^^On our arrival we heard sad accounts of Lord 
Nelson's voyage. Exposed to all the fury of the 
storm we had escaped, the flagship had been in 
the greatest danger and had suffered considerably 
in her masts and rigging. Prmce Albert, the 
King's youngest son, had died of sea-sickness, 



MARIA CAROLINA 263 

and his funeral was the first welcome this noble 
island could give to the royal personages who 
now took refuge on its shores. . . . 

" We were in all about two thousand persons 
who left Naples at this time. The French entered 
the city about a fortnight after the King's 
departure and took possession of the castles, but 
they seldom ventured into the streets except in 
large parties, as the lazzaroni were greatly irri- 
tated against them. The environs, too, swarmed 
with armed peasants under the command of 
Cardinal Ruffo, a man of singular ability and 
decision of character and endowed with every 
advantage of mind and body that is sought for in a 
military leader. Though a cardinal, he had never 
taken holy orders, and before his elevation had been 
treasurer to the Pope. 

'^ We took apartments on the Marina, a magnificent 
promenade of considerable length. It consisted of 
a row of good houses, some of them really hand- 
some buildings, a wide road for carriages, and along 
the seashore a terrace for foot passengers with 
statues of the Kings of Sicily at regular intervals. 
The Marina led to a beautiful garden, called the 
Flora Reale . . . and in the summer-time a band of 
music used to play there for the amusement of the 
company. The garden belonged to the King, and 
near it was a very pretty villa which Sir William 
Hamilton occupied until he removed to a larger 
one near the Mole. ... It was wonderful to see the 
improvements and resources which started up in 
Palermo after the arrival of so many strangers. . . . 
It was delightful to hear the Sicilian music on fine 



264 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

moonlight nights from the vessels and boats that 
entered or crossed the bay." ' 

During the year 1798, now closing, and which 
had been so full of turmoil and calamity for Maria 
Carolina, she had experienced another loss in her 
own family, that of her sister, the Archduchess 
Christine, Duchess of Saxe-Teschen and Governess 
of the Netherlands. 

It seems strange that not one of the children of 
Maria Theresia lived to really old age. 

The loyalty and affection with which the royal 
family were received in Sicily could not but touch 
their hearts. Welcomed with transports of enthusi- 
astic devotion by all ranks of their subjects, they 
soon, after they had recovered from the fatigues, 
hardships, and sorrows of their flight, settled into 
their usual life in their new home. 

The two eldest Princesses, Christine and Amelie, 
who had been accompanied by their beloved Signora 
di Ambrosio, pursued their studies and spent a 
great deal of their time in devotion and charity. 
In after years Queen Amelie would often recall to 
her mind the enthusiastic rapture of devotion she 
used to feel when she knelt in the chapel royal 
of Palermo.2 

The King and Queen waited in suspense for news 
from Naples, considering meanwhile the best means 
of reconquering that country and putting Sicily into 
a proper state of defence. The news was bad 
enough when it did come. The ^' Parthenopeian 
RepubHc," as the Jacobins had christened the 

* Autobiography of Cornelia Knight. 

" ** Vie de Marie Amelie, Reine des Frangais " (A. Trognon). 




Maria Carolina, Queen of Naples. 

From a print in the possession of Mr. Hardy Manfield. 

Picture given by the Queen to Lady Hamilton. 



To face p. 264. 



MARIA CAROLINA 265 

kingdom of Naples, had been declared and received 
with acclamation by the Jacobin party, whose 
delight, however, was soon considerably diminished 
when they found their property seized and their 
pockets emptied by Championnet with the first de- 
tachment of their new friends, and what was left 
taken from them by the next arrivals under 
Faypoult. 

Court gaieties went on at Palermo as at Naples, 
but the Queen was melancholy and depressed, and 
in spite of the loyalty and devotion of their Sicilian 
subjects and the enchanting beauty of her second 
capital she began to wish that she had taken refuge 
instead with her eldest daughter at her beloved 
Vienna. 

'^ No news from my dear Naples," she writes to 
Lady Hamilton, January i, 1799. ^' My compliments 
to our excellent Admiral. I much wish to have 
a quiet conversation with him about the defence 
of this island, for everything I see, hear, and 
understand deprives me of all tranquillity. I am 
neither consulted nor even listened to, and am 
excessively unhappy. I regret that I did not go 
elsewhere with my children, and shelter myself 
with my family from events which must inevitably 
occur from the line of conduct pursued ; but one 
must submit to fate and die. I grieve only for my 
children." ^ 

That Ferdinando did blame the Queen for the 

plight they were in is evident. Her plans had 

certainly not prospered lately, and the defeat of 

Mack had shaken the King's confidence in Maria 

' "The Queen of Naples and Lord Nelson " (Jeaffreson). 



266 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

Carolina, whose countryman Mack was, and by 
whose nephew he had been sent to Naples ; though 
it was certainly not the fault of the Queen that 
Mack was a bad general, and that a good one could 
not be found in the Neapolitan army. 

However, Ferdinando when he arrived at Palermo 
showed a determination to take the reins of govern- 
ment himself, and a disregard of the Queen's 
opinion which he had never yet displayed during 
the thirty years of their married life. 

After they had been a few weeks in Sicily, 
Admiral Caracciolo came to the King one day and 
asked for leave of absence. 

This permission he granted, but remarked in a 
warning manner, as he did so : ^^ Beware of med- 
dling with French politics, and avoid the snares of 
the republicans. I know I shall recover the king- 
dom of Naples." ^ 

Caracciolo left Palermo apparently a loyal and 
devoted subject of the King whose uniform he wore 
and whose commission he still held, and joined the 
Jacobins who betrayed Naples to the French. 

The lazzaroni were anxious to defend their city, 
which, however, the Jacobins treacherously surren- 
dered, proclaiming their own dishonour by boasting 
that the city had not yielded to assault or conquest 
but to their willing betrayal. General Manthone, 
who made this declaration to Championnet, 
suffered the due reward of his treason a few 
months later. 

' In her " Naples in 1799 " Signora Giglioni says that this inter- 
view and warning were given by Acton, not Ferdinando. 



CHAPTER XVII 

Preparations for the reconquest of Naples — Ruffo — Calabria — A 
fearful war — State of Sicily — Travellers in the olden times — 
The brigands of Sicily — An escort. 

THE royal family and court had exchanged one 
beautiful capital for another, were delivered 
from immediate danger, and surrounded by loyal 
subjects instead of traitors, but there was little rest 
or breathing time for any one. 

The reconquest of Naples filled their thoughts, 
and the constant messages received by the King 
and Queen from their loyal subjects all over the 
kingdom encouraged their hopes and hastened 
their preparations. 

The mass of the people hated the Jacobins and 
the French, and were everywhere rising for the 
King ; from Calabria especially came urgent 
entreaties for arms, money, and somebody to lead 
them against the detested foreigners. 

Calabria was certainly not a district in which 
republican or any new doctrines were likely to 
spread. To this day it and its inhabitants differ 
widely from the rest of Italy and the Italians. It 

is more difficult to see, and more strange and 

267 



268 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

picturesque, than any other district of that 
country.' 

In its great forests of chestnut and ilex hotels 
and modern conveniences of travelling do not 
exist, or, at any rate, did not a very few years ago. 

The manners, customs, and ideas of its inhabi- 
tants are wilder and less civilised than in other parts 
of the country, and this applies not only to the 
peasantry but to the nobles, whose castles are 
buried in these lonely regions, and whose lives are 
regulated by the tastes and notions of bygone days. 

Those who have heard the accounts and descrip- 
tions given by northern Italians, Roman, Florentine, 
Milanese, &c., of the experiences they have passed 
through during visits they have paid to some of 
these castles, will not have failed to be struck by 
the strange mediaeval character and tone which 
pervades every detail and incident. 

The extraordinary seclusion of the women ; their 
monotonous lives ; the large hunting parties, from 
which they are excluded ; the great banquets 
occasionally given in the castle hall, in which only 
the men of the family take part, their mothers, 
wives, and sisters watching the arrival of the 
guests from some upper window in the castle ; 
the young men, who, even if they have been, as 
now and then happens, educated at some foreign 

* Brydone, writing of Calabria in 1770, says it is " pretty much in 
the same state as the wilds of America that are just beginning to 
be cultivated — little spots in the woods cleared ... a wild and 
barren wilderness overgrown with thickets and forests, &c. . . . 
retaining in the ferocity of its inhabitants more of Gothic barbarity 
than . . . anywhere else. Some of these forests are of vast extent 
and almost impenetrable " (" A Tour through Sicily and Malta"). 



MARIA CAROLINA 269 

university, falling back on their return to their 
fathers' estates into the old ways, passing their 
days in galloping after cattle, hunting in the 
forests ^ — all this belongs to another age and to 
another system of life. 

That a hundred years ago this state of things 
existed to a much greater degree and far more 
extensively need scarcely be said, and though 
General Colletta remarks that there were more 
republicans in Calabria than in Naples, it is ex- 
ceedingly difficult to believe in anything so unlikely. 
At any rate. Cardinal Rufifo, whom Ferdinando sent 
to take command there, found the inhabitants eager 
to join him, and burning to sweep the French and 
the Jacobins from the country and revenge upon 
them the wrongs suffered by the King and the 
Church. 

And the vengeance they took was terrible ; though 
not at all worse than the cruelties and murders of 
those who were proclaiming the ^'rights of man" 
and the reign of universal happiness. 

It is usual for republican writers to describe 
Ruffo's army as composed entirely or chiefly of 
brigands and convicts.^ It is one of the usual 
exaggerations which recall the well-known words 
of a great poet : 

" A lie that is all a lie can be met and fought with outright, 
But a lie that is half the truth is a harder matter to fight," 3 

The King's army was composed in great part of 

' All this I have not myself seen, but it has been told me by an 
Italian friend who took part in it. (Note by author.) 
= He says that in Calabria they were about one per cent. 
3 Tennyson. 



270 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

honest peasants who fought for the Church and 
the monarchy, and of soldiers already enlisted in 
his service. 

But it is equally true that besides these were 
released prisoners and brigand chiefs with their 
bands, whose deeds of horror gave a fearful character 
to the war which soon raged over that unhappy 
country. 

Fra Diavolo and other well-known and atrocious 
brigand chiefs were employed by Ruffo with the 
consent and approbation of the King and Queen, 
whose one desire and resolution was to recover the 
kingdom which had been wrested from them. 

It must not, however, be supposed that the 
cruelties practised were worse on one side than the 
other, or that there was the least difference in 
their readiness to employ any and every body 
who could be found able and willing to fight for 
them. 

The generals, officers, and soldiers of Joseph 
Buonaparte and Murat were just as cruel and 
remorseless as those of Ferdinando, with this 
difference, that the royalist troops were fighting 
for their King, their religion, their homes, their 
families, and their country, while the French were 
simply foreign invaders joined by a small portion 
of the Neapolitan people. General Macdonald, 
by no means a cruel specimen of the officers of 
the Republic or of Napoleon, gave and published 
the following orders : 

^^ Every town or city in rebellion against the 
Republic shall be burnt and levelled with the 
ground. 



MARIA CAROLINA 271 

" Cardinals, bishops, abbes, cures, and all ministers 
of divine worship shall be held responsible for acts 
of rebellion in the places where they reside, and 
shall be liable to the punishment of death. 

^^ Every rebel shall be liable to the punishment 
of death, and every accomplice, whether lay or 
spiritual, shall be treated as a rebel. 

" None are permitted to ring a double peal, and, 
wherever heard, the ecclesiastic of that parish shall 
be punished with death. 

"Whoever shall spread news adverse to the 
French or to the Parthenopeian Republic shall be 
declared a rebel and shall suffer death. 

" The loss of life shall be accompanied with loss 
of property." I 

It must be remembered that what the Jacobins 
m^eant by rebels were people fighting for their 
lawful King and their own country against a 
foreign tyranny. For this, or for giving shelter, 
food, or help to their own father, husband, or child 
who opposed the Jacobin tyrants overrunning 
their country, women, old men, even children, were 
put to death without mercy. 

But directly the case was reversed and the King 
got possession of Naples again, there arose an 
outcry of indignation because those who had 
rebelled against him, driven him from his kingdom, 
and given up their capital into the hands of a 
foreign invader, were punished as traitors. It is 
not, however, my intention to enter into the details 
of the terrible war that now and later raged in this 
unfortunate kingdom, nor to relate the vicissitudes, 
' Colletta, &c. 



272 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

crimes, and atrocities, which are given at full 
length by various historians of the time, which 
would only horrify my readers and which do not 
belong to a book of this kind. 

The news which reached Palermo very soon 
became more encouraging. Ruifo was in Calabria 
in February, his army ever increasing as the 
royalists flocked to his standard. In March the 
Austrians had gained two victories in the north of 
Italy, invested Mantua, and were threatening Milan. 
The Russians and Turks had taken possession of 
the Ionian Islands and landed thirty-two thousand 
men on the coast of Italy. 

Macdonald had retired from Naples with the 
greater part of his troops, leaving only enough 
soldiers to garrison Gaeta, Capua, St. Elmo, and 
the other forts. The Neapolitan Jacobins, first 
plundered and then deserted by their new friends, 
looked uneasily across the sea in the direction of 
Sicily. 

In Naples itself various conspiracies had been 
formed for the recovery of the city by the royalists, 
of which the most formidable was one organised 
by a certain Baccher, who had lived for many 
years in Naples and whose sympathies and principles 
were strongly royalist. 

This Baccher was a banker, and of Swiss nation- 
ality ; he had four sons, of whom one, Gerardo, 
was an officer in the Neapolitan cavalry. 

Some historians have asserted that they were 
English and that their name was in reality Baker, 
but, however that may be, they had between them 
arranged a conspiracy for the restoration of the 



MARIA CAROLINA 273 

King, the execution of which, after having been 
delayed for some unknown reason, was instead 
of the 5th of April, as originally intended, decided 
to be carried out upon the 8th of that month. 

All was carefully settled respecting the details of 
the plan to be followed, which would very likely have 
proved successful had it not been for the infatua- 
tion of Captain Baccher for a certain Luigia di 
Sanfelice, a woman of noble blood but loose morals, 
with whom he was in love. 

The brothers Baccher and their friends had found 
means of communicating with the Sicilian and 
English fleets, and it had been agreed that upon a 
festa, when everyone would be amusing themselves 
and off their guard, some shells should be thrown 
from the ships into the town. The soldiers would 
then rush to the forts, leaving the city unprotected, a 
tumult would be raised, the houses of the Jacobins 
attacked and set on fire, the rebels put to death, 
and the city restored to the King. 

But it was necessary that there should be no 
mistakes between friends and enemies, in order to 
prevent which houses were secretly marked by the 
conspirators upon the doors or walls, indicating 
whether their inhabitants were to be destroyed or 
protected. In most of the houses certainly many 
families lived, but this difficulty could be met by 
marking the doors which opened upon the public 
staircase. There were, however, many persons 
living together, or even of the same family, belong- 
ing to the opposite factions, and to distinguish them 
from each other papers were secretly given by which 
their safety would be assured. It was this measure 

19 



274 ^ SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

which caused the ruin of the enterprise and the 
destruction of its authors. 

Captain Baccher knew that Luigia di Sanfelice 
was a rabid repubHcan, but his anxiety for her 
safety caused him to betray the trust placed in 
him by his companions, and not only to give her 
one of the papers in question, but to disclose to her 
the plan in contemplation. This act of folly and 
treachery cost not only his own life, which of course 
he had a right to risk or throw away if he chose, 
but the lives of his companions who had trusted 
him, besides causing the failure of the project. One 
cannot but think that he might have found some 
other means of saving the life of this woman, who 
did not care for him but was in love with a certain 
Lieutenant Ferri, a violent republican, to whom she 
gave the paper and revealed the whole matter.^ 

Ferri naturally went at once to the republican 
officials, showed them the paper and told the 
history of it. They sent for Luigia, who gave them 
all the information in her power, affecting to refuse 
to disclose the name of the man who had saved 
her, in which she was supported by the revolu- 
tionary authorities, who made a parade of their 

^ A republican authoress of the present day (Constance GiglioH) 
writes in rapturous admiration of the party who, in 1798-99, gave 
their country into the hands of the foreign invader ; quotes from 
the most virulent Jacobin writers their raving abuse of the Queen ; 
but does not show the slightest sympathy with her grief at the 
murder of her sister and the ruin of her family. She says that the 
name of the man to v^^hom Luigia betrayed Captain Baccher and his 
companions was Coco, and that he was a solicitor. Colletta, how- 
ever, and other writers state that his name was Ferri and that he 
was a lieutenant in the service of the" Parthenopeian Republic," and 
that he was either killed in the war or fled to France. 



MARIA CAROLINA 275 

virtue in not insisting upon, and her heroism in not 
telling, the name, which, as she could not help 
being aware, they knew perfectly well. Even if 
the handwriting on the paper were not recognised, 
she had already betrayed Captain Baccher by reveal- 
ing his name to her other lover, Ferri. 

The conspiracy was crushed, the conspirators 
arrested and shot, Captain Baccher and one of 
his brothers of course amongst them, while Luigia 
di Sanfelice was flattered and called the saviour of 
the Republic and mother of her country. To this 
day in the writings of the revolutionary authors this 
woman is exalted as a heroine, an angel, and a martyr. 

After the battle of the Nile Nelson received a 
peerage from King George III., and the King of 
Naples gave him the estate of Bronte, with the 
title of Duke which it bears. 

The sword presented to him by Ferdinando was 
set with diamonds and had belonged to his father, 
the King of Spain. 

The little Prince Leopold, now youngest son of the 
King, on hearing his mother say that she desired to 
have a portrait of Nelson painted for herself, said that 
he should get a copy and stand before it, saying 
^' Dear Nelson, teach me to become like you." ^ 

*^ We are now arrived at the great capital of 
Sicily, which in our opinion in beauty and elegance 
is greatly superior to Naples," writes the learned 
traveller, Mr. Brydone, a few years earlier,^ at the 
beginning of Ferdinando's reign. 

* Autobiography of Miss Cornelia Knight. 

' " A Tour through Sicily and Malta, in a series of letters to 
William Beckford, Esq., of Somerby, in Suffolk, from P. Brydone, 
Esq., F.R.S." (1770).! 



276 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

" The two great streets intersect each other in the 
centre of the city, where they form a handsome 
square, called the Ottangolo. From the centre 
of the square you see the whole of these noble 
streets, and the four great gates of the city which 
terminate them, the symmetry and beauty of which 
produce a fine effect. . . . The Porta Felice, much 
the handsomest of these gates, opens to the Marino, 
a delightful walk, which constitutes one of the great 
pleasures of the nobility of Palermo. It is bounded 
on one side by the wall of the city and on the other 
by the sea, from whence, even in this scorching 
season, there is always a refreshing Seabreeze. In 
the centre of the Marino they have lately erected 
an elegant kind of temple, which during the summer 
months is made use of as an orchestra for music ; 
and as in this season they are obliged to convert 
the night into day, the concert does not begin until 
the clock strikes midnight, which is the signal for 
the symphony to strike up : at that time the walk is 
crowded with carriages and people on foot ; and 
the better to favour pleasure and intrigue, there 
is an order that no person of whatever quality shall 
presume to carry a light with him. The flambeaux 
are extinguished at the Porta Felice, where the 
servants wait for the return of the carriages ; and 
the company generally continue an hour or two 
together in utter darkness, except when the intrud- 
ing moon with her horns and her chastity comes to 
disturb them. . . . 

" Their other amusements consist chiefly in their 
conversazioni, of which they have a variety every 
night. Here the people really come to converse, 



MARIA CAROLINA 277 

whereas in Italy they only go to play cards and 
eat ices. I have observed that seldom or never one 
half of the company is engaged in play, nor do they 
either play long or deep. There are a number 
of apartments . . . illuminated with wax lights and 
kept exceedingly cool and agreeable ; and it is 
indeed altogether one of the most sensible and 
comfortable institutions I have seen. . . . The 
Sicilians are much fonder of study than their neigh- 
bours on the Continent, and their education is much 
more attended to. We were a good deal surprised 
that, instead of that frivolity and nothingness which 
so often constitute the conversation of the Italian 
nobility, here their delight was to talk on subjects 
of Hterature, of history, of politics, but chiefly of 
poetry. . . . We were astonished on our first arrival 
at Palermo to hear ourselves addressed in English 
by some of the young nobility, but still more 
so to find them intimately acquainted with many 
of our celebrated poets and philosophers. Milton, 
Shakespeare, Dryden, Pope, Bacon, Bolingbroke, 
we found in several libraries, not in the translation, 
but in the best editions of the originals." 

Changes were slow in those days, and the state of 
things in Sicily was very little, if at all, altered from 
these descriptions given between twenty and thirty 
years earlier. 

Besides making many friends amongst the 
Sicilian nobles, Brydone travelled all over the 
island, and gives the following amongst other details 
of his journey : 

'' We are just returned from the Prince's. He 
offered us the use of his carriages, as there are none 



278 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

to be hired; and in the usual style desired to know 
in what he could be of service to us. We told 
him . . . that we were obliged to set off to- 
morrow and begged his protection on our journey. 
He replied that he would give orders for his guards 
to attend us ; that they should be answerable for 
everything ; that we need give ourselves no further 
trouble ; that whatever number of mules we had 
occasion for should be ready at the door of the 
inn at any hour we should think proper to appoint. 
He added that we might entirely rely on those 
guards, who were people of the most approved 
fidelity as well as the most determined resolution, 
and would not fail to chastise on the spot any 
person who should presume to impose upon us. 

^' Now, who do you think these trusty guards are 
composed of ? Why, of the most daring and most 
hardened villains perhaps that are to be met with 
upon earth, who in any other country would have 
been broken upon the wheel or hung in chains, 
but are here publicly protected and universally 
feared and respected. It was this part of the police 
of Sicily that I was afraid to give you an account of, 
but I have now conversed with the Prince's people 
upon the subject, and they have confirmed every 
circumstance Mr. M. made me acquainted with. 

^' He told me that in this east part of the 
island, called Val Demonio from the devils that 
are supposed to inhabit Mount Etna, it has ever 
been found impracticable to extirpate the banditti, 
there being numberless caverns and subterraneous 
passages in that mountain where no troops could 
possibly pursue them ; that besides, as they are 



MARIA CAROLINA . 279 

known to be perfectly determined and resolute, 
never failing to take a dreadful revenge on all 
who have offended them, the Prince of Villa 
Franca has embraced it, not only as the safest, 
but likewise as the wisest and most political 
scheme to become their declared patron and 
protector. And such of them as think proper 
to leave their mountains and forests, though 
perhaps only for a time, are sure to meet with 
good encouragement and security in his service ; 
they enjoy the most unbounded confidence, which 
in no instance they have ever yet been found to 
make an improper or a dishonest use of. They are 
clothed in the Prince's livery, yellow and green, with 
silver lace, and wear likewise a badge of their 
honourable order, which entitles them to universal 
fear and respect from the people. 

'' I have just been interrupted by an upper 
servant of the Prince's, who, both by his looks and 
language, seems to be of the same worthy fraternity. 
He tells us that he has ordered our muleteers at 
their peril to be ready by daybreak, but that we 
need not go till we think proper, for it is their 
business to attend on nostri eccellenzi. He says he 
has likewise ordered two of the most desperate 
fellows in the whole island to accompany us ; adding 
in a sort of whisper, that we need be under no 
apprehension, for if any person should presume to 
impose upon us to the value of a single baioce, they 
would certainly put them to death. I gave him an 
ounce,^ which I knew was what he expected ; 
on which he redoubled his bows and eccellenzi, 
' About eleven shillings. 



28o A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

and declared we were the most honorahili signori 
he had ever met with, and that if we pleased he 
himself would have the honour of attending us 
and would chastise any person who should dare 
to take the wall of us, or injure us in the smallest 
trifle. We thanked him for his zeal, showing him 
that we had swords of our own, on which, bowing 
respectfully, he retired. 

" I can now, with more assurance, give you 
some account of the conversation I had with 
Signor M., who, as I said, appears to be a very 
intelligent man, and has resided here for many 
years. 

" He says that in some circumstances these banditti 
are the most respectable people of the island, and 
have by much the highest and most romantic ideas 
of what they call their point of honour ; that, 
however criminal they may be with regard to 
society in general, yet with respect to one another, 
and to every person to whom they have once 
professed it, they have ever maintained the most 
unshaken fidelity. The magistrates have often been 
obliged to protect them, and even pay them court, 
as they are known to be perfectly determined and 
desperate, and so extremely vindictive that they will 
certainly put any person to death who has ever 
given them just cause of provocation. On the other 
hand, it never was known that any person who had 
put himself under their protection and showed that 
he had confidence in them had cause to repent it, or 
was injured by any of them in the most minute 
trifle ; but on the contrary, they will protect him 
from impositions of every kind, and scorn to go 



MARIA CAROLINA 281 

halves with the landlord, like most other conductors 
and travelling servants, and will defend them with 
their lives if there is occasion. That those of their 
number who have enlisted themselves in the service 
of society are known and respected by the other 
banditti all over the island, and the persons of those 
they accompany are ever held sacred. For these 
reasons most travellers chuse to hire a couple 
of them from town to town, and may thus travel 
over the whole island in safety. . . . 

^' They have a practice of borrowing money from 
the country people, who never dare refuse them ; 
and if they promise to pay it they have ever been 
found punctual and exact, both as to the time and 
the sum, and would much rather rob and murder 
an innocent person than fail of payment at the day 
appointed ; and this they have often been obliged to 
do, only in order, as they say, to fulfil their engage- 
ments and to save their honour. It happened within 
this fortnight that one of these heroic banditti, 
having occasion for money and not knowing how 
to procure it, determined to make use of his 
brother's name and authority, an artifice which 
he thought could not easily be discovered ; ac- 
cordingly, he went to a country priest and told 
him his brother had occasion for twenty ducats, 
which he desired he would immediately lend him. 
The priest assured him he had not then so large 
a sum, but that if he would return in a few days it 
should be ready for him. The other replied that he 
was afraid to return to his brother with this answer, 
and desired that he would by all means take care to 
keep out of his way, at least till such time as he had 



282 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

pacified him ; otherwise he would not be answer- 
able for the consequences. As bad fortune would 
have it, the very next day the priest and the robber 
met in a narrow road ; the former fell a-trembling as 
the latter approached, and at last dropped down on 
his knees to beg for mercy. The robber, astonished 
at his behaviour, desired to know the cause of it. 
The trembling priest answered, * II denaro ! il de- 
naro ! ^ but send your brother to-morrow and you 
shall have it.' 

*' The haughty robber assured him that he dis- 
dained taking money from a poor parish priest, 
adding that if any of his brothers had been low 
enough to make such a demand, he himself was 
ready to advance the sum. The priest then 
acquainted him with the visit he had received 
the preceding night from his brother, by his order, 
assuring him that if he had been master of the sum 
he should have immediately supplied it. 

" ' Well,' says the robber, ^ I will now convince 
you whether my brother or I are most to be 
beheved ; you shall go with me to his house, which 
is but a few miles distant.' 

^^ On their arrival before the door the robber called 
on his brother, who, never suspecting the dis- 
covery, immediately came to the balcony ; but on 
perceiving the priest he began to make excuses 
for his conduct. The robber told him there was 
no excuse to be made, that he only desired to know 
the fact, whether he had gone to borrow money 
of that priest in his name or not. On his owning 
that he had, the robber with deliberate coolness 
' " The money ! the money ! " 



MARIA CAROLINA 283 

raised his blunderbuss to his shoulder and shot him 
dead, and turning to the astonished priest, 'You 
will now be persuaded/ said he, 'that I had no 
intention of robbing you, at least.' . . . 

"GiARDiNi, NEAR Tauromixum, May 22nd. 
*' We have had a delightful journey. . . . We left 
Messina early this morning, with six mules for our- 
selves and servants and two for our baggage. This 
train, I assure you, makes no contemptible appear- 
ance ; particularly when you call to mind our front 
and rear guard, by much the most conspicuous part 
of it. These are two great drawcansir (sic) figures, 
armed cap-a-pie, with a broad hanger, two enormous 
pistols, and a long arquebuse. This they kept 
cocked and ready for action in all suspicious places, 
where they recounted abundance of wonderful 
stories of robberies and murders ; some of them 
with such very minute circumstances that I am 
fully persuaded they themselves were the principal 
actors. However, I look upon our situation as 
perfectly secure ; they pay us great respect and take 
the utmost pains we shall not be imposed upon. 
Indeed, I think they impose upon everybody except 
us ; for they tax the bills according to their pleasure, 
and such cheap ones I never paid before. To-day's 
dinner for eleven men, our three muleteers included, 
and feeding for ten mules and horses, did not 
amount to half a guinea. And although we pay 
them high, an ounce a day each, yet I am persuaded 
they save us at least half of it upon our bills. They 
entertained us with some of their feats, and made 
no scruple of owning having put several people to 



284 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

death, but added, ' Ma tutti, tutti honorabilmente,' 
that is to say, they did not do it in a dastardly 
manner, nor without provocation. 

"The sea-coast of Sicily is very rich ; the sides of 
some of the mountains are highly cultivated, and 
present the most agreeable aspect that can be 
imagined — corn, wine, oil, and silk, all mixed 
together and in the greatest abundance. However, 
the cultivated part is but small in proportion to 
what is lying waste. The sides of the road are 
covered with a variety of flowers and of flowering 
shrubs, some of them exceedingly beautiful. The 
inclosures are many of them fenced with hedges of 
the Indian fig, or prickly pear, as in Spain and 
Portugal, and our guides assure us that in many of 
the parched ravines round Etna there are plenty of 
trees which produce both cinnamon and pepper ; 
not so strong, they allow, as those of the Spice 
Islands, but which are sold to the merchants at a 
low price by a set of banditti who dress themselves 
like hermits. These spices are mixed with the true 
pepper and cinnamon from the Indies and sent all 
over Europe." ^ 

I have given these extracts from the long-for- 
gotten writings of a learned traveller of nearly a 
century and a half ago in order to convey an idea 
of the state of things which prevailed in Sicily and 
Calabria during the reign of Ferdinando and Maria 
Carolina. These letters, which bring before us the 
incidents of daily life and the perils and picturesque- 
ness of travelling, were written two years after their 
marriage, and the conditions, social and political, 

» " Sicily and Malta " (Brydone). 



MARIA CAROLINA 285 

were unchanged at the time of their retirement to 
their island kingdom. 

It will be seen by any one who can at all realise 
the conditions of life, customs, opinion, and tone 
of thought at that time and in those countries, that 
the brigands inhabiting the mountains and forests 
of Sicily and Calabria formed a numerous and 
powerful portion of the population, recognised and 
frequently, one may say constantly, employed by 
high and lov/, and that in the desperate war of 
defence and reconquest of their own country, their 
enlistment in the army of Ferdinando and Ruffo 
was a matter of course. 

It should also be constantly borne in mind that 
the ideas and principles prevalent in all countries a 
hundred and fifty years ago differed considerably 
from those now generally accepted, and it may 
fairly be asked whether the brigand bands who 
fought for Ferdinando were better or worse than 
the tribes of Indian savages, with their tomahawks 
and scalping knives, who swept the country during 
the wars in America, murdering and torturing men, 
women, and children, in the employment of both 
England and France. 



CHAPTER XVIII 



The King's country house— End of the Parthenopeian Republic — 
Recovery of Naples — The treaty annulled — Attitude of the 
Queen — The King returns to Naples — Miss Knight and Lady 
Hamilton — Capture of the Gencreux. 



ONE of the most important things, in the opinion 
of Ferdinando, was to arrange a place for 
himself where he could hunt and fish. This he 
soon secured. And having established himself in 
his new country house near Palermo, he amused 
himself very well in his usual manner, notwithstand- 
ing the dangers and calamities by which his kingdom 
was beset. 

The Queen wrote in January to the Empress of 
Germany : 

"Your dear father, whether from religion or 
resignation, keeps well and is content ; he has taken 
a pretty little country house, builds and gardens, in 
the evenings goes to the theatre or the masquerade, 
is cheerful, and I admire him. Naples, to him, is 
like the Hottentots : he does not think about it." ^ 

On June 4, 1799, a grand dinner was given at the 
English Embassy in honour of the birthday of King 
George, and was followed by a court ball, soon 
» Helfert. 




Lord Nelson. 

An Italian portrait painted at Naples, and given by {jiteen Maiia Carolina 

to Sir Thomas Hardy. 

From the original nou in the possession of Mr. Hardy Manfield, of Porteshar, 



To face p. 287. 



MARIA CAROLINA 287 

after which most of the Enghsh ships left for 
Naples. Deserted by their French friends, the 
Jacobins of the Parthenopeian Republic looked out 
in vain for the sails of the fleets of France and 
Spain to appear on the horizon for their deliverance. 
The warships of England had retaken all the islands, 
and now the victorious army of Ruffo took posses- 
sion of the city, and the forts, which were 
garrisoned by the remaining French troops and 
a Neapolitan force, capitulated to Cardinal Ruffo 
upon an agreement as favourable as if it had 
been between two foreign Powers at war with 
each other, instead of a king and his rebellious 
subjects. 

So thought the King, the Queen, Sir William 
Hamilton, and Nelson ; and it was resolved that the 
treaty, which it was declared Cardinal Ruffo had 
no authority to make, and to which by the law of 
nations ^ the King, not having consented, could not 
be bound, should therefore be annulled. 

The terms of the capitulation, with the Queen's 
indignant comments upon them, are still preserved. 
It was natural enough that she and those belonging 
to her should feel disgusted at the immunity of 
their disloyal subjects, who were not only to enjoy 
freedom and security, but '^ the honours of war." 
But at the same time, and whatever might be the 
technical right or wrong of the case, it appears to 
many persons not radical that the annulling of this 
agreement was a lamentable thing, and that it would 
have been a thousand times better that any number 
of persons should escape the punishment they so 
" Jeaffreson. 



288 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

richly deserved than that the rebel garrison should 
have been thus entrapped. 

However, the King's word, not having been given, 
was in consequence not broken, and his position, 
that he was not bound to treat with rebellious sub- 
jects, cannot be denied ; but still, the consequences 
that followed were so terrible that it is impossible 
not to deeply deplore what took place. 

The agreement was signed by the commandants of 
the two castles (Castel dell' Ovo and Castel Nuovo), 
by Cardinal Ruffo and the Russian and Turkish 
plenipotentiaries, and sent to Captain Foote, who 
returned it, signed, on the 23rd of June. 

Micheroux, who was a loyal subject in the King's 
service and as merciful as he was loyal, was very 
anxious that this or some treaty of the kind should 
be arranged, and had desired that a herald should 
be sent to Naples and terms of surrender agreed on 
before Ruffo's troops should arrive. 

Ruffo knew very well that he was not authorised 
to promise any such terms, and told Micheroux so, 
but finally agreed to the plan, thinking that it might 
put an end to the terrible state of things then exist- 
ing, and hoping and believing that the treaty would 
be observed. 

But the day after the signing of the agreement 
(June 24th) the Foudroyant appeared in the bay of 
Naples with Nelson and Sir William Hamilton on 
board, and when Captain Foote presented them 
with a copy of the capitulation they both declared 
it to be illegal and refused to acknowledge it.' 

* One of the inventions circulated by the Jacobins and believed 
by many persons was that the Queen heard of the capitulation of 



MARIA CAROLINA 289 

Ruffo, in consternation, went on board the 
Foiidroyant to explain matters, and assured Nelson 
that it was too late to object, as the treaty was already 
in force. It was of no avail. Nelson and Hamilton 
scouted the idea, saying that kings do not treat with 
their rebel subjects, and after long and stormy dis- 
cussions, which went on for a day or two. Nelson 
gave the Cardinal his written opinion as follows : 
" Rear-Admiral Lord Nelson, who arrived in the Bay 
of Naples on the 24th of June with the British fleet, 
found a treaty entered into with the Rebels which he 
is of opinion ought not to be carried into execution 
without the approbation of his Sicilian Majesty." 

The details of the discussions and disputes con- 
cerning this deplorable affair do not belong to a book 
of this kind, and cannot be entered into at length. 

Ruffo protested in vain — threatened to restore the 
rebels to the position in which they were before the 
treaty ; in fact, did all he could — but it was useless. 
The capitulation was annulled, the castles taken 
possession of, and the leaders of the revolt, with 
many others concerned in it, seized and imprisoned 
to await their trial. 

A republican writer,^ who represents the repub- 

the castles at Palermo after Nelson had sailed, and sent Lady 
Hamilton after him in a swift sailing vessel to persuade him to 
annul the treaty, and that Lady Hamilton gave herself to Nelson 
as a reward ! But the treaty was signed June 23rd. Nelson was 
at Naples June 24th, and on June 25lh the Queen wrote to Lady 
Hamilton that the Cardinal had written, but only to the General, 
and said "little of the treaty, nothing of the operations." 

* Constance Giglioni [nee Stocker), " Naples in 1799." To give an 
example, Ettore Carafa, one of the Jacobin leaders, whom this 
author describes as a faultless hero, but whose ambition and cruelty 
are denounced even by repubhcan writers. Signora Giglioni 

20 



290 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

licans and Jacobins of Naples to have been like 
saints and angels, accuses Nelson of ferocity because 
he annulled the treaty,^ and of intolerance and 

quotes the French General Macdonald, who praised him on one 
occasion for his conciliatory methods of dealing with the revolted 
populations. (N.B. — The " revolted populations " means the loyal 
subjects who refused to submit to the French invaders.) The other 
proof brought forward is that Carafa, according to the document 
quoted, having himself led a troop of Jacobins and foreign invaders 
to attack a loyal city which was the property of his family, his own 
birthplace, the home of his childhood, and that of the faithful 
friends and retainers of his family, tried in the first place to per- 
suade the city to surrender, and when the indignant people fired 
upon him as an unnatural traitor, and the place was stormed by his 
troops under his own directions, he tried to persuade the French 
General he had enabled to seize the hapless city not to burn it to 
the ground, and himself, perhaps touched with horror and remorse, 
interfered to prevent some of the worst outrages of his new asso- 
ciates upon his old retainers and friends ! And then this author 
proceeds to extol his humanity, proved, she asserts, by these docu- 
ments ! But Colletta, who was himself in the war, who fought for 
the Jacobins and afterwards served Murat, who knew the officers 
and chief Jacobins, and was strongly prejudiced for the republicans 
and against the loyalists, must have known perfectly well what he 
was saying. " Ettore Carafa, valiant in war but cruel in council," 
he writes. And the deeds of Carafa speak for themselves. He was 
imprisoned in St. Elmo for his treasonable share in the Jacobin con- 
spiracy, but managed to escape to Milan, and returned with the 
French invaders of his country, whom he led against the faithful city 
of Andria, which every tie of nature and decency ought to have 
made sacred to him. Andria made a gallant but unavailing defence, 
and its "humane," "patriotic" assailant writes to his employers : 
" The city was all in flames, and the dead may be as many as four 
thousand." He next, vv^ith his associates, took and sacked Trani, 
which, Colletta says, " was reduced to heaps of corpses and ruins ! 
Ceglie and Carbonara shared the same fate, and it must be remem- 
bered that the only fault of these unfortunate cities was loyalty to 
their King and country and hatred of the foreign invader. And 
this traitor ought not, according to the republican author, to have 
suffered in his turn for all this treason and bloodshed. 

' " Entering the bay just in time to annul the treaty, in precise 
accordance with the law of nations " (Jeaffreson). 



MARIA CAROLINA 291 

narrow-mindedness because he hated the French 
and the Jacobins. Considering that a short tirne 
previously these worthies perpetrated the September 
massacres, made France one scene of bloodshed and 
slaughter, and amongst other notable performances 
had tied young girls and men together and thrown 
them into the Loire, and had collected five hundred 
little children together and mown them down with 
grape shot, his dislike to them is not inexplicable, 
and was at any rate shared by a very considerable 
number of people all over Europe. 

To an ordinary mind it might seem that the 
"ferocity" was on the other side. 

But whether Nelson was a ferocious character or 
not can safely be left to the judgment of history. 

Charged by the English Government to fight the 
French wherever he could find them. Nelson had 
been searching in vain for the French fleet. He 
had started for Naples first on the 13th with the 
Prince Royal on board, but had returned to Palermo 
with him. 

One of the atrocious sentiments for which the 
Queen is abused by her republican enemies, is : 

" It would appear . . . that a second squadron 
has entered the Mediterranean. May it please God 
that they [i.e., Nelson's and the other Enghsh 
squadron] should unite and meet with the infamous 
republicans [the Brest squadron] and destroy them." 

Are not republicans, then, in the habit of wishing 
for the success of their armies and navies ? Ought 
not England to have rejoiced at the victory of the 
Nile and the destruction of the French fleet ? Or 
France at Marengo and Austerlitz ? 



292 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

The Queen had greatly hoped that Naples might 
be recovered without much bloodshed, and wrote 
to Lord Nelson : ^' Notwithstanding I have been so 
misunderstood there, I still regard the ungrateful 
city, and solicit your forbearance. I hope that the 
imposing force by sea and their being surrounded 
on all sides will be enough without shedding blood 
to make them return to their allegiance. 

^* Je desire que cela ne coute point de sang, celui 
de mes ennemis meme n'etant precieux." 

Another expression of the Queen's has been made 
into a specimen of her atrocious cruelty : 

'^ I urge Lord Nelson to deal with Naples as if 
it were a rebel city in Ireland, behaving in like 
manner." 

The Government of King George IIL was not, 
however, looked upon as particularly cruel or blood- 
thirsty, and it is difficult to see in what consists 
the iniquity of wishing that Naples might be dealt 
with as the English King would have dealt, through 
his officers, with a rebellion in his dominions. It 
would have been, indeed, a good thing for Naples if 
this wish could have been realised. 

But the spite of the revolutionary writers against 
the Queen, their bitter opponent, turns into evil 
her every thought, word, and action, however 
harmless or even praiseworthy. 

^'The King," says Miss Knight, '' went with Lord 
Nelson to take once more possession of his capital, 
where he established a council of regency, and after- 
wards returned to Palermo, where the Queen and 
the royal family had remained. It was during 
the absence of our fleet and of Sir William and 



MARIA CAROLINA 293 

Lady Hamilton, who had accompanied the King, 
that my mother's lengthened sufferings came to an 
end. . . . When Sir WilHam Hamilton and Lord 
Nelson came to take leave of her before their depar- 
ture for Naples, she had particularly commended 
me to their care, and, previous to their embarkation. 
Sir William and Lady Hamilton had left directions 
with Mrs. Cadogan that, in case I should lose my 
mother before their return, she was to take me to 
their house. That lady came for me, and I went 
with her to our Minister's, knowing that it was my 
mother's wish that I should be under his protection ; 
and I must say that there was certainly at that time 
no impropriety in living under Lady Hamilton's 
roof. Her house was the resort of the best company of 
all nations,^ and the attentions paid to Lord Nelson 
appeared perfectly natural. He himself always 
spoke of his wife with the greatest affection and 
respect ; and I remember that, shortly after the 
battle of the Nile, when my mother said to him that 
no doubt he considered the day of that victory as 
the happiest in his life, he answered, ^No ; the 

* The italics are mine. I give these extracts because the 
Queen's friendship with Lady Hamilton has been brought as 
another crime against Maria Carolina by her assailants, one of 
whom accounts for the fact of Lady Hamilton's being received by 
everyone at Naples by saying that the court was so corrupt that 
it was not surprising. But Lady Knight and her daughter were 
persons of the strictest propriety — the latter afterwards companion 
to Charlotte, Princess of Wales — and their testimony shows that at 
that time Lady Hamilton was received not only by Neapolitans 
but by "the best company of all nations." The friendship for her, 
therefore, of the Queen, who was attracted by her beauty and 
musical talents, and by the sympathy and affection she showed for 
herself in her troubles, seems less surprising and not unaccount- 
able. (Note by the author.) 



294 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

happiest was that on which I married Lady 
Nelson.' 

" It is painful to reflect on the scenes that passed 
at Naples ; and no one can have a greater dislike 
than myself to political executions, because, however 
legally just they may be, they are revolting to 
humanity, and do no good to the cause which they 
are meant to uphold. On the contrary, they create 
a feeling of exasperation, and excite compassion in 
favour of the guilty. But it is only right to say 
that Caracciolo was taken in arms against the forces 
of his Sovereign, that he was tried by a court-martial 
of Neapolitan officers, and executed on board a 
Neapolitan ship. I grieve for his fate, and still 
more for his defection, but many strange misrepre- 
sentations have been circulated upon this subject. 

" The Queen, who has been accused of so much 
vindictive cruelty, was, to my certain knowledge, 
the cause of many pardons being granted. And 
there was one lady in particular whom she saved, 
who was her declared enemy and at the head of a 
revolutionary association." 

The GenereuXy a French ship of the line which 
had escaped from the battle of the Nile and taken 
refuge in the port of La Valetta in Malta, was 
captured by our cruisers while endeavouring to gain 
Toulon. When Lord Nelson heard the good news 
he exclaimed : 

'' Ah ! she knew that she belonged to us, and her 
conscience would not let her stay away any longer." 

Miss Knight was called by the officers of the fleet 
Nelson's ^'charming poet-laureate." She wrote 
various stanzas in his praise, more patriotic than 



MARIA CAROLINA 295 

poetical; which were sung with the National 
Anthem. After the battle of the Nile : 

"Join we great Nelson's name, 
First on the roll of fame, 

Him let us sing. 
Spread we his fame around, 
Honour of British ground, 

God save our King." 

After the capture of the Guillaume Tell : 

"While thus we chant his praise, 
See what new fires blaze. 

New laurels spring. 
Nelson ! thy task's complete ; 
All their Egyptian fleet 
Bows at thy conqu'ring feet 

To George, our King ! " 

After the capture of the Genereux : 

" Lord, Thou hast heard our vows ! 
Fresh laurels deck the brows 

Of him we sing. 
Nelson has laid full low 
Once more the Gallic foe ; 
Come, let our bumpers flow 

To George, our King." 

The Order of St. Ferdinand was instituted by 
the King for the recovery of his Italian States, and 
crosses were given to the English officers, Neapolitan 
Ministers, and others attached to the court who had 
followed the royal family to Palermo. A Neapolitan 
one day remarked that this order had not been 
given to a single Sicilian, upon which a Sicilian 
gentleman who was present replied : 



296 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

*' His Majesty is perfectly right to give his new 
order to the few NeapoHtans who have remained 
faithful. If he had given it to us, it must have been 
to every inhabitant of the island, for all have been 
true to him." 

The loyalty of the Sicilians was certainly beyond 
doubt, and they were delighted to have the King, 
royal family, and court at Palermo. 

They also hated the French with an undying 
detestation, and would speak with pride and satis- 
faction of the Sicilian Vespers, which they would 
have been glad enough to repeat if occasion offered. 
Nor was there any love between them and Naples. 
In the time, more especially, when that kingdom 
was under the domination of Spain, Sicily was 
oppressed, her commerce injured, and the export 
of corn either forbidden or enormously taxed. The 
Queen did not accompany the King on his trium- 
phant return to Naples. On the 2nd of July she 
wrote to Lady Hamilton : 

"This [Nelson's letter] has decided the King to 
start to-morrow evening, which has already cost 
and will cost me many tears. The King does not 
think it well that I should go with him for the 
little time he expects to remain there. In brief, 
he starts to-morrow evening ... I shall remain 
in great sadness, making my prayers to Heaven 
that everything may succeed, for glory and for 
real good. But I am deeply moved, and think 
much of what I desire, and in the future ought 
to be. . . ."' 

On July 7th she wrote again to Lady Hamilton : 
* " The Queen of Naples and Lord Nelson " (Jeaffreson). 



MARIA CAROLINA 297 

'^ My Dear Miledy, — I owe you thousands and 
thousands of thanks for your two letters, which I 
received last evening, much after time. I note in 
them everything you tell me with so much friendship. 
At the time I am writing this, I think the King will 
have arrived at Naples, because, thank God ! the 
vessel which left on the 5th of this month met him 
forty miles from Capri. That has consoled and 
quieted me. My attachment to his person, my zeal 
for his good, I dare say even my enthusiasm, made 
me intensely desire to go to Naples. I was not able 
to obtain permission to do so, and my reason makes 
me feel it is for the best. Alas ! they would, albeit 
with injustice, have attributed everything to me, 
from malice and a spirit of vengeance. ... In 
short, my dear Miledy, I have the misfortune to 
know thoroughly the Neapolitan nobility and all the 
classes, and I will always say the same : only the 
bourgeoisiey the artizans, and the most humble people 
are faithful and attached. The latter sometimes 
surrender themselves to licence, but their senti- 
ments are good. This conviction causes me to 
have no commission to give you, for I am deter- 
mined, on returning to Naples, to live entirely 
isolated from the whole world, the experience of 
thirty-one years during which I have lived to oblige 
everyone and find myself deserted, having made an 
impression that will never be effaced. I am ready to 
return to Naples the moment the King shall wish it. 
We go daily to [sing] a Te Deum, to pray and carry 
in procession the Holy Sacrament, to bless the sea 
and to pray for the King and Naples. . . . Poor Bel- 
monte has received from another quarter intelligence 



298 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

of his brother's arrest ; he is greatly afflicted, more 
for seeing him guilty than all the rest. One sees 
only the unhappy, and that makes one miserable. 

''Charlotte." I 

The Queen had heard of the treason of this man 
before the knowledge of it had come to the King's 
ears, and, touched with compassion for his brother's 
grief, she did all she could to save him, by means 
of Lady Hamilton. However, Ferdinando was told 
and the Count arrested. The Queen, whose para- 
mount influence over the King was gone, still did 
her best to help the culprit. She pretended to leave 
him to his fate, as in his present humour any inter- 
ference would only have irritated Ferdinando against 
him ; but she gave private instructions to Lady 
Hamilton, pointing out that, although guilty in 
serving the Republic, he had not fought against the 
King, and, in consequence, he was placed on the 
Culloden under the supervision of Nelson. For 
this the Queen wrote heartfelt thanks to Lady 
Hamilton, describing the terrible state of grief and 
anxiety in which Prince Belmonte had been, and 
his joy and gratitude at his brother's being saved. 

The Signora di San Marco, of whom the Abbe 
Galiani expressed so strong an opinion, after 
having been a favourite and confidant of Maria 
Carolina, who was extremely incautious and inju- 
dicious with any one to whom she took a fancy, 
had deserted her and gone over to the French and 
Jacobin party. Now that the royalists had the upper 
hand she wrote to try and ingratiate herself again 

' " The Queen of Naples and Lord Nelson " (Jeaffreson). 



MARIA CAROLINA 299 

with the Queen, who remarked that she should 
answer the letter one of these days, but that she 
had been deeply pained by the conduct for which 
Mme. di San Marco could not justify herself. 

The first trial which took place was that of 
Caracciolo, who had fled from the victorious troops 
of the Sovereign he had deserted, but whose hiding- 
place had been discovered or betrayed. His execu- 
tion is violently inveighed against by all the 
revolutionary and republican writers as a crime, 
but they have no reason to give for their assertions. 
Why was it a crime ? Is it, or is it not, the uni- 
versal rule that a soldier or sailor deserting to the 
enemy in time of war is, if taken, put to death ? And 
if for a poor sailor or soldier death is the penalty 
of desertion, dare they say that an ofhcer is to be 
differently judged, even if he be general or admiral ? 
The excuses and extenuations of his apologists and 
admirers show the feebleness of their case. There 
can, of course, be no pretence of denying that 
Caracciolo was a traitor and deserter, seeing that 
while he was still holding the King's commission as 
admiral of his fleet, he left him and joined the 
enemy. 

The palliation oiTered by one is that he enjoyed 
the respect and affection of his fellow-citizens, that 
he did not at first intend to desert, but was over- 
persuaded. Is a man tried for desertion at a 
court-martial acquitted because he is popular, or 
because he was over-persuaded, or because his 
crime was not premeditated ? 

Others, ignoring the simple fact that he was a 
deserter and traitor, declare that he was put to 



300 A SISTER Of MARIE ANTOINETTE 

death because Nelson had always been jealous of 
him ; but this can need no comment. Nelson 
jealous of Caracciolo ! 

Of the vileness, the infamy^ the ferocity, the 
^* vilta " of Nelson, hi^ puny assailants may rave 
to their hearts' content ; his fame, his glory, and 
his honour are far beyond the reach of their 
calumnies.^ 

But that, instead of being shot according to his 
petition, Caracciolo was hanged from the mast of 
the Minerva, many persons will always deplore. It 
is true that the fate of Andre at the hands of 
Washington has not, as far as one knows, caused 
that eminent republican to be called a tyrant or 
murderer by radical writers, although Andre was 
not, like Caracciolo, a traitor, but a loyal soldier 
and stainless gentleman, who died for his King and 
country, and whose only crime was that he obeyed 
the orders given him. It is asserted by some of the 
writers against the Queen, and by others who have 
accepted their false statements without examination, 
that she was present on board the ship and witnessed 

^ Mr. Jeaffreson remarks : " No English historian of Nelson's 
conduct in the Bay of Naples is likely to repeat Southey's deplor- 
able mistakes touching the traitor's trial and the capitulation of the 
castles. But let it not be inferred that I claim credit for putting 
those transactions for the first time in a true light. The credit of 
that great literary service is wholly due to two other writers — first, 
and in by far the greatest degree, to Commander Jeaffreson Miles ; 
secondly, and in a less degree, to Sir Harris Nicolas. Thanks are 
due to Mr. John Paget for popularising the facts and arguments of 
these two writers, but he neither strengthened the arguments nor 
made a single addition to the facts of their perfect vindication of 
the Admiral's honour in respect to this passage of his glorious 
career." 



MARIA CAROLINA 301 

the execution. Also that, Ferdinando being too 
tender-hearted to carry on or behold the trials and 
punishments of the rebels, he returned to his 
country house in Sicily and left the Queen to 
execute justice at Naples in his place ! ^ 

The facts, however, are that Maria Carolina, at 
the time she is asserted by these persons to have 
been at Naples, torturing and killing her subjects, 
was, during the first months of this terrible time, at 
Palermo, where she had just then so very little 
influence with the King and government that, in 
order to obtain the pardons of the many persons 
she helped and saved, she was obliged to resort to 
subterfuge, to get Lady Hamilton or some other 
person to intercede for them, and to prevent the 
King, whose ambition it now was to be considered 
independent, from supposing she took any interest 
in those she wished to protect. The last year and a 
half, during which took place a trial for which she 
has been especially reviled,^ she was not in Italy at 
all, but in Austria, and at the time of that trial she 
had not seen her husband for three months. 

Ferdinando, on the other hand, was not hunting 
at his country place near Palermo, unable to bear 
the sight of the sufferings in Naples, but was 
carrying out his vengeance there in a manner 
which, notwithstanding the provocations and 
injuries he had received, can only be called 
horrible. 

*^ Pour peu qu'on y gratte on trouve un Tartare," 
was the well-known remark of Napoleon con- 

^ Sir Archibald Alison. 
' That of Luigia Sanfelice. 



302 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

cerning Russians ; and the observation is so far 
applicable to Ferdinando that, although in his case 
a Tartar would not have been found, a savage 
certainly would. He was a thorough Neapolitan, 
and his nature resembled that of his favourite com- 
panions, the lazzaroni. Good-natured, easygoing, 
pleasant, even kindly, in daily life, cheerful and 
apparently patient in adversity, there lay hidden 
under all this fair surface a violent, cruel, remorse- 
less nature, always ready to break forth if his 
passions were aroused, just as the rich gardens and 
sunny vineyards on Etna and Vesuvius are at any 
moment liable to disappear, swept away by a torrent 
of liquid fire from the depths of the volcano. 

The injury and the offences to be punished were 
very great. The Parthenopeian Republic had been 
forced upon the vast majority of an unwilling people 
by a small but violent faction, supported by the 
troops of a foreign invader. In order to carry out 
their plans they had given their country over to fire 
and sword, had betrayed their capital and fortresses 
into the hands of foreigners, and slaughtered many 
thousands of their own countrymen. And, having 
wrought all this destruction, misery and bloodshed, 
when the collapse in which it ended arrived, their 
partisans claim not only that they should have been 
allowed to go unpunished, but to remain, a constant 
danger, in the State and city upon which they had 
brought such calamity. 

Such was not the opinion of Nelson or of the 
Queen, neither of whom doubted that the leaders 
of the revolt and those most guilty must be exe- 
cuted, and that others concerned in it should 



MARIA CAROLINA 303 

receive various proportions of punishment accord- 
ing to the degree of their culpability. And in those 
days, in any country in Europe, an amnesty after 
such a rebellion would have been a thing utterly 
unheard of. 

But between the stern and just retribution neces- 
sary to restore order and punish crimes and the 
state of things Ferdinando established at Naples 
there can be no comparison whatever. 

The opinion of Clarke and McArthur, which 
they derived from an examination of Nelson's 
papers relating to that time, was that the number 
of persons executed, having been tried and con- 
victed, was about seventy. The various republican 
writers declare that they were more numerous, and 
Gagniere, one of the most rabid, asserts that they 
amounted to a hundred and one, from which 
women were not excluded. Eleanora Pimentel, a 
beautiful woman of noble family and stainless 
morality, but a partisan and instigator of the 
Jacobin rebellion, was one of the sufferers ; and 
so were various other persons of good character, 
profound learning, Utopian, fanatical ideas, and dis- 
tinguished talents, which they had applied to the 
overthrow of the government of their country or 
to the service of the rebel faction and the foreign 
invaders. Pagano, Cirillo, and other of the Queen's 
friends of the days of her liberal associations were 
among the number. 

Many others were condemned to imprisonment, 
some for life, others for shorter terms ; many more 
were exiled. But what lent horror to the state of 
things during this time was the ferocious mob, 



304 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

furious against the Jacobins, the French, and every- 
body whom they at all suspected of sympathising 
with them, who plundered, sacked, murdered, and 
committed deeds too horrible to relate. 

The last execution was that of the miserable 
Luigia di Sanfelice, and it was one of those which 
inspired more horror and compassion than most of 
the others. Not that the character of the " saviour 
and mother of the Parthenopeian Republic " called 
forth much admiration from those who did not 
belong to that body. Luigia, or Luisa, had been 
married at seventeen to her cousin, a boy a year 
older than herself, and apparently equally worthless. 
They lived a disreputable life, plunged into debt, 
till at last their friends interfered, took away their 
three children, placed them in convents, and shut 
up Luigia and her husband also in separate con- 
vents, from which they escaped and returned to 
Naples, where they led the same scandalous, licen- 
tious lives as before. 

But although her betrayal of the man who loved 
and saved her cost his life and many others, it is 
obvious that she was placed in a terrible position. 
If she revealed the plot she sacrificed the man who 
was risking his life for hers ; if she kept the secret 
she sacrificed the other man whom just then she 
loved ; and if her sympathies were with the 
republicans, she also sacrificed the party to which 
she belonged. She was arrested, reprieved, then 
condemned, and in order to save her life declared 
herself to be enceinte, in consequence of which she 
was shut up with some other ladies in the prison of 
the Vicaria. After some time it became evident 



MARIA CAROLINA 305 

that this was not the case ; but months passed, and 
it was hoped that now, as the year 1800 wore on, 
she would be pardoned, for a general amnesty was 
announced, to which there were to be, however, 
some exceptions. 

But she had a bitter enemy in the father of the 
man she had betrayed, Vincenzo Baccher, the old 
banker, who owed to her the death of two out of 
his four sons, and who, with the surviving members 
of his family, was naturally in great favour with 
the King ; and through his representations Ferdi- 
nando, who would probably have allowed Luigia to 
escape, was again inflamed with fury against her, 
and gave orders that she should be executed. 

Now, it is the most iniquitous falsehood to 
pretend, as many of the republican writers do, 
that the Queen had anything to do with this sen- 
tence, which excited general indignation and pity. 
In the first place, Maria Carolina had at this time 
no influence over Ferdinando or Acton ; in the 
second place, as she was not in Italy, but at Vienna, 
where she had gone with her children months 
before the final sentence and execution, she had 
not, and could not possibly have had, anything to 
do with the matter ; and in the third place, both 
she and Lady Hamilton had, at an early part of the 
proceedings, wished to save Luigia Sanfelice. 

But it is just one of the cases in which the 
mingled vanity, folly, and ferocity of Ferdinando 
so conspicuously appear. Two days before the 
date fixed for the execution the Princess Clemen- 
tina, wife of the Prince Royal, gave birth to a son 
and heir. It was the custom in the Neapolitan 
21 



3o6 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

court that on the birth of an heir to the throne the 
mother should have the right to ask of the King 
three favours, all of which he was expected to 
grant. The Princess, thinking to make more 
certain of her request being granted, only asked 
for one thing, the pardon of Luigia Sanfelice. This 
she wrote with fervent entreaties in a note which 
she put on the cradle of the child, ready for the 
King, whose visit she expected. 

Presently Ferdinando arrived, delighted with his 
grandson, whom he took in his arms and began to 
admire, when his eyes fell upon the letter. 

^'What is that ? " he asked. 

^^ It is a favour which I ask," said the Princess, 
trying to raise herself from the pillows which sup- 
ported her. ^' Only one favour instead of three, so 
much do I desire to move the kind heart of your 
Majesty." 

^' For whom do you plead ? " inquired the King, 
smiling, as he took up the letter. 

'' For the unhappy Luigia Sanfelice/' replied the 
Princess Clementina, and she was going on to 
add more entreaties when her father-in-law's face 
changed. 

'' Anything but that ! " he exclaimed with a look 
of fury ; and dropping the baby on to the pillows, 
he turned on his heel and left the room. 

Luigia Sanfelice was accordingly put to death, 
and her fate lent a darker shade to Ferdinando's 
cruel policy. It was a useless barbarity, for Luigia 
was powerless to do any further mischief, and 
although, considering that she had betrayed and 
defeated a royalist movement, and caused the 



MARIA CAROLINA 307 

death of several loyal subjects, she could not have 
been pronounced anything else than guilty, the 
reprieve, the re-arrest, the long suspense and im- 
prisonment, and the final refusal of his daughter- 
in-law's petition, which he was bound to grant, and 
which would have been an excellent opportunity 
of exercising the prerogative of mercy — all these 
augmented the hardship and cruelty of the case, 
and cast a deeper stain upon the reputation of 
Ferdinando. If Nelson or the Hamiltons had 
been there it would have almost certainly been 
prevented, but it took place after they had left. 



CHAPTER XIX 

Triumphant return of the King — Honours to the Hamiltons — 
Pardons obtained by the Queen — Her generosity and 
charities — Depression of the Queen — Sir WiUiam Hamilton 
recalled — Scene with the King — Visits Naples — Leaves 
Palermo with Nelson — Perilous voyage to Livorno — The 
battle of Marengo — Dangerous journey to Vienna — Anxiety 
of the King. 

AS the events recorded at the end of the last 
chapter happened many months later, it is 
time to return to Palermo and the events which 
took place there immediately after the collapse of 
the Parthenopeian Republic and the recovery of 
the kingdom of Naples. 

On the 8th of August, 1799, the Foudroyant 
appeared in the Bay of Palermo, and the Queen 
and her children, attended by vast crowds, stood 
by the water's edge to receive the King, who landed, 
accompanied by Sir William and Lady Hamilton, 
amidst the shouts and acclamations of the mul- 
titude. 

Naples was again their own, the French troops 
were swept out of the kingdom, and a few weeks later 
(September 28th) Rome also fell into the hands of 
the Neapolitans and Austrians. The standard of 
Naples floated from the walls of S. Angelo, the 



MARIA CAROLINA 309 

royal seal of Naples was upon the gates of the 
Vatican. Maria Carolina felt her spirits rise. 
Surely the old days of prosperity were coming 
back again. 

During the King's absence she had corresponded 
continually with Lady Hamilton, through whom 
she was trying to get the pardon of Pignatelli and 
Migliano, two of the Neapolitan nobles implicated. 
Maria Carolina had a violent temper, and when she 
was angry did not care what she said ; but, although 
she wrote about *' that fool Migliano," and called his 
wife ^^ a viper with an infernal tongue," she busied 
herself in saving his life, and, in spite of all her 
indignation and wrath against Naples, she kept 
sending Lady Hamilton money to distribute 
among those in want. Six hundred ducats on 
the 20th of July, for instance ; three thousand 
ducats ten days after, and so on. 

^^ There is that Luciana, who calls herself For- 
tunata, and another big common woman called 
Piete del Pesce, near the statue of San Janaro in 
the Strada Nuova," she writes in one of her letters 
of charitable directions. 

One of the unfortunate characteristics of Maria 
Carolina was that she had no discrimination of 
character in choosing her friends, and no reserve 
or caution when she had chosen them. She con- 
fided to them all sorts of things they ought never 
to have been told, loaded them with kindness and 
favours, and then after a while found out that they 
were totally unworthy. 

Of Mme. San Marco she had made an intimate 
friend and confidant, and had found her entirely 



3IO A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

ungrateful. She refused to go with her to Palermo, 
and remained behind at Naples, where she asso- 
ciated herself with the revolutionists and spread 
slanders against the Queen. 

Yet when Mme. San Marco found herself in 
difficulty and danger she wrote to the Queen she 
had deserted and calumniated, who, in writing of 
her to Lady Hamilton, remarks : '^ Should Mme. 
San Marco be in need of money she can rely on 
me to help her during all her life, but all the ties 
of interest and friendship between us have been 
broken by her conduct." Always generous, even 
to prodigality, the Queen lavished costly presents 
upon the Hamiltons when they returned from 
Naples. She embraced Lady Hamilton, putting 
round her neck a gold chain with her portrait set 
in jewels ; that of Ferdinando, also set in jewels, 
she gave to Sir William ; and a day or two after 
their arrival at Palermo she sent the former two 
coach-loads of costly dresses to replace those she 
had left behind when she left Naples in December. 
It was said that the presents given to the Hamiltons 
in a few days amounted to six thousand pounds. 

But republican writers who bring this as a 
reproach against her do not think it necessary to 
mention the sums she gave in charity ; whereas 
Lord Nelson, on the 31st of October, 1799, in a 
letter to the Emperor of Russia (Paul L), says : 

'^ The laborious task of keeping the Maltese quiet 
in Malta, through difficulties which your Majesty 
will perfectly understand, has been principally 
brought about by the goodness of her Majesty 
the Queen of Naples, who at one moment of dis- 



MARIA CAROLINA 311 

tress sent seven thousand pounds belonging abso- 
lutely to herself and children, by the exertions 
of Lady Hamilton . . . and by the bravery and 
conciliating manners of Captain Ball." 

Like all excitable, emotional people, Maria Caro- 
lina had at first been overjoyed and elated at the 
present success and prosperity of affairs, but soon 
began to find that all was not so much to her satis- 
faction as she had hoped and believed, and conse- 
quently fell into a state of depression which affected 
her health. 

She found that she could not by any means 
regain her ascendancy over either the King or 
Acton, whose confidence in her judgment and 
capacity had been shattered by the disastrous result 
of Mack's campaign in the Papal States during 
the autumn. If only she had not been so im- 
patient, if she had taken the advice of her son- 
in-law, the Emperor, and waited till the spring 
instead of forcing on matters before they were 
ready, all this would not have happened. It was 
likely enough that Ferdinando declared, and that 
she herself partly believed, that the loss of the 
capital for several months, the destruction of the 
fleet, the flight, and the death of her boy, besides 
all that was now going on in Naples, need not 
have happened. At any rate, he would not listen 
to her now in any political questions, and the loss 
of the power and influence she had enjoyed for 
more than thirty years was a bitter trial to her, 
besides which, she knew that she was unpopular, 
and was unjustly blamed for all sorts of things with 
which she had nothing to do, and which she had 



312 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

no power to prevent, that there was no end to 
the calumnious stories spread against her by her 
enemies, and that from many persons to whom 
she had shown the greatest kindness she met with 
nothing but ingratitude. 

She became ill and feverish, thought she was 
going to die, or said that she wished to retire into 
a convent, and that only the care of her daughters 
prevented her from embracing the life of the 
cloister, than which one cannot imagine anything 
more unsuitable for her. 

Another day her spirits and health would im- 
prove, and she would then desire to return to 
Naples, at any rate for a time. 

She did, in fact, go there for a few days in the 
autumn, when she wrote to Lady Hamilton her 
intention to stay one night at Caserta and three 
days in Naples. 

It must have been a melancholy glimpse of the 
scenes of former happiness, and she was glad to 
return to Palermo and to turn her thoughts to 
another project she had made — a journey to Austria 
and Tuscany. 

A great sorrow to her just now was the recall of 
Sir William Hamilton, who was to be replaced as 
English Ambassador by Sir Arthur Paget. 

Sir William Hamilton had been Ambassador at 
Naples for more than thirty years, and was very 
popular. It was said of him that he had never 
injured any one, but always used his influence for 
good. 

The Queen was in despair, for besides her devoted 
friendship for Lady Hamilton, she was extremely 




^.^f'^'cr^ JB_ 









Autograph Letter of King Firdixand of Naples to ax Exglish Admiral, 

Naples, May 9, 1800. 

Fro/u Mr. A . M. Broadley's collection 0/ MSS. 



To fare/). 313. 



MARIA CAROLINA 313 

fond of Sir William, who had been a good and 
faithful friend to her from the first moment of her 
arrival at Naples. 

She tried to persuade the King to write to 
England and prevent his being removed, but for 
some reason or other Ferdinando refused. They 
had a stormy interview, of which the Queen speaks 
in one of her frequent letters to Lady Hamilton : 

^' My dear Miledy, — I received yester-evening 
your obliging letter and the papers. I will take 
care that justice is done to this interesting Duchess 
Sorentino, and to mitigate her cruel fate. . . . Yes- 
terday on your departure I endured a scene of 
madness — cries, yellings, threats to kill you, throw 
you out of the window, to send for your husband 
to complain that you turned your back. ... I am 
extremely unhappy, I have so many troubles. . . . 
The accursed Paget is at Vienna . , . everything 
afflicts and desolates me. . . ." 

Ferdinando was at Naples during the spring, pre- 
siding over the trials and executions by which he 
made himself such an evil name, but returned early 
in May, 1800, as will be seen by the letter,^ asking 
to be conveyed from thence to Palermo on board 
an English man-of-war. 

Shortly afterwards Ludovica, Grand-duchess of 
Tuscany, second daughter of the King and Queen, 
having lost her son, a child of six years old, wrote 
in great distress entreating her mother to come and 
see her. 

This was sufficient to decide Maria Carolina, who 
saw that for the present it would be better for her to 
^ From the collection of MSS. of Mr. A. F. Broadley. 



314 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

leave Ferdinando to himself, and besides her longing 
to see both her elder daughters, the Empress and 
the Grand-duchess of Tuscany, and her various 
grandchildren, was also anxious for political reasons 
to meet her son-in-law the Emperor, and yearning 
to be again in her own country. 

Therefore she arranged to leave Palermo early 
in June with her four younger children, the 
Princesses Christine, Amelie, and Antoinette, and 
Prince Leopold. 

Nelson had gone with the Foudroyant, on which 
they were to sail, on a voyage of pleasure to Malta 
and Syracuse, having on board the Hamiltons, Miss 
Knight, and two or three other friends. It was on 
this voyage, declares Mr. Jeaffreson, that the violent 
flirtation w^hich had for some time gone on between 
Lord Nelson and Lady Hamilton developed into 
the liaison which lasted until the death of the great 
Admiral. 

On their return the royal party went on board, 
accompanied by the Hamiltons, the Prince of 
Castelcicala, and Miss Knight, a numerous retinue 
of officers and servants attending them on other 
vessels, also under Lord Nelson's convoy. 

The Due de Berri had been staying at Palermo, 
and wanted to marry the Princess Christine, but the 
present deplorable state of the French royal family 
did not incline the King and Queen of Naples to 
accept him as a son-in-law. He came down to the 
ship to take leave of the Princess and the rest of the 
royal family, shedding tears as he did so. 

The King, too, came on board to take leave of his 
family ; his four children knelt down while he gave 



MARIA CAROLINA 315 

them his blessing, and as he returned to land the 
Foudroyant weighed anchor and the shores of Sicily 
soon disappeared from the eyes that looked long- 
ingly backward, for some of those on board — the 
Hamiltons, for instance, and Miss Knight — felt 
deeply leaving the country in which they had 
spent so many happy years. 

The Queen was delighted to get away ; she was 
longing to see her daughters, and her spirits rose 
higher as the stately ship, sailing swiftly with a 
favourable wind, passed out of the bay of Palermo 
into the open sea. 

During the voyage they were overtaken by a 
violent storm, which recalled only too vividly their 
voyage to Palermo eighteen months before ; but on 
June 14th they arrived safely at Livorno, having left 
Palermo on the gth. 

The Queen exclaimed, ^'Livorno! Livorno!" in 
a transport of delight, as they dropped anchor at 
the Tuscan port, and on landing her joy was a 
thousandfold increased by the enthusiastic welcome 
she received and by the arrival of a messenger 
from General Melas on the evening of the i6th 
announcing that the Austrians had won the battle 
of Marengo. 

It was five o'clock when she received this news, 
and Te Deiims were at once sung in the churches 
and public rejoicings proclaimed in the streets. 

The despatch ran as follows : 

" After a long and sanguinary battle on the plains 
of Marengo, the arms of his Majesty the Emperor 
have completely beaten the French army conducted 
into Italy and commanded by General Buonaparte. 



3i6 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

The details of the battle will be given in another 
despatch, as well as the fruits of the victory, which 
the Lieutenants-General Ott and Zach are gathering 
on the field. Dated Alessandria, 14th June, 1800." 

It was true enough that when General Melas left 
the field to write this despatch the Germans were 
victorious ; but Napoleon had not recalled his 
troops nor allowed a retreat to be sounded, as he 
had just heard that Desaix was coming to his 
assistance with nine thousand soldiers. 

Desaix arrived at four o'clock, the tide of victory 
turned, the battle was won by Napoleon at the cost 
of the life of Desaix. In after years he said that 
Desaix was the greatest genius of all his generals ; 
at any rate he was the only one against whom he 
was never heard to utter a reproach. 

Maria Carolina retired to bed with her heart full 
of joy, triumph, and thankfulness, giving orders 
that she should be awakened when the next 
despatch arrived, no matter at what hour of the 
night. 

Soon after midnight the despatch came, and was 
carried at once to the Queen's room. 

Awakened by one of her ladies, she hastily tore 
open the paper, exclaiming : 

'^ Let us read the end of the presumptuous army 
of Buonaparte 1 " 

The despatch ran thus : 

*' Towards the decline of day the enemy were 
reinforced by a fresh army, and fighting on the 
field of Marengo the greater part of the night, have 
beaten our army, the conquerors of the preceding 
day. Encamped beneath the walls of this fortress, 



MARIA CAROLINA 317 

we are now collecting the miserable remnants of 
the lost battle, and are consulting on the best 
course to pursue under present circumstances and 
in face of the enemy. Dated Alessandria, midnight, 
i4-i5th June." 

The Queen read these fatal lines twice over, and 
then sank fainting into the arms of the lady who 
had awakened her.^ 

As soon as she recovered her self-possession she 
caused inquiries to be made as to whether the road 
to Venice and Trieste was open and safe, and 
waited in uncertainty for nearly a month before 
it could be determined which way they should 
travel ; it seemed even doubtful whether they 
would not be obliged to go back to Sicily. 

Meanwhile she enjoyed the protection and 
hospitality of the Grand - duke Ferdinand, her 
nephew and son-in-law, whose dominions, how- 
ever, were then being invaded by the French. 
Ferdinand resembled his father the Emperor 
Leopold in his good qualities, and was adored in 
Tuscany ; but his subjects were powerless against 
the French. 

Rumours of the approach of the French army 
kept circulating in the town, which was filled with 
terror and agitation. 

One night the Queen was so much alarmed that 
she took refuge with her children on board an 
English man-of-war,2 but being more reassured the 
next day, returned to her quarters on shore. 

' " Storia del Reame di Napoli " (Colletta). 

= The Alexander, to which Nelson had removed his flag on 
June 28th. 



3i8 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

Lord Keith, the English Commander-in-chief, 
arrived at Livorno on June 24th, and thinking 
Lord Nelson too much disposed to employ the ships 
of his Majesty King George in the service of the 
Queen of Naples, ordered the Foiidroyant to be 
sent to Minorca to be refitted.^ What was to be 
done ? A Neapolitan frigate was at anchor in the 
port of Livorno, and it was proposed that the 
Queen and her family should go in that to Trieste. 
With much reluctance she consented, but when she 
went to look at the ship the aspect of it was so 
unsatisfactory that she declared nothing should 
induce her to make the voyage in it. 

At last it was settled that they should travel by 
land to Ancona and there embark for Trieste, much 
to the terror of some of the party, for it was very 
dangerous, as the French troops were spreading all 
over the country. Miss Knight, who accompanied 
them, thus describes the journey to Sir E. Berry : 

^^ July 16th. — It is at length decided that we go 
by land, and I feel all the dangers and difficulties 
to which we shall be exposed. Think of our 
embarking on small Austrian vessels at Ancona 
for Trieste, as part of a land journey 1 to avoid the 
danger of being on board an English man-of-war, 
where everything is commodious and well-arranged 
for defence and comfort ; but the die is cast, and 
go we must. Lord Nelson is going on an expedi- 
tion he disapproves and against his own convictions, 
because he has promised the Queen and that others 
advise her. I pity the Queen. Prince Belmonte 
directs the march, and Lady Hamilton, though she 

' Autobiography of Cornelia Knight. 



MARIA CAROLINA 319 

does not like him, seconds his proposals because 
she hates the sea and wishes to visit the different 
courts of Germany. Sir William says he shall die 
by the way, and he looks so ill that I should not 
be surprised if he did. I am astonished that the 
Queen, who is a sensible woman, should consent 
to run so great a risk, but I can assure you that 
neither she nor the Princesses forget their great 
obligations to you. If I am not detained in a 
French prison, or do not die upon the road, you 
shall hear from me again.*' 

^^ Ancona, July 24, 1800. — As I find delays 
succeed each other and England still recedes from 
us, I will not omit at least informing you of our 
adventures. We left Leghorn the day after I wrote 
to you by Mr. Tyson, and, owing more to good- 
fortune than to prudence, arrived in twenty-six 
hours at Florence, after passing within two miles 
of the French advanced posts. After a short stay 
we proceeded on our way to this place. At Castel 
San Giovanni the coach in which were Lord 
Nelson and Sir William and Lady Hamilton was 
overturned ; Sir William and Lady Hamilton were 
hurt, but not dangerously. The wheel was repaired, 
but broke again at Arezzo — the Queen ^ two days' 
journey before them and news of the French army 
advancing rapidly, it was therefore decided that 
they should proceed, and Mrs. Cadogan and I 
remained with the broken carriage, as it was of 
less consequence we should be left behind or taken 
than they. We were obliged to stay three days to 

' The Queen had an escort sent by the Grand-duke of Tuscany 
as far as the frontier of his dominions. 



320 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

get the coach repaired, and providentially Arezzo 
was the place, as it is the most loyal city in 
Tuscany, and every care, attention, and kindness 
that humanity can dictate, and cordiality and good 
manners practise, were employed in our favour. 
, . . Just as we were going to set off, we received 
accounts of the French being very near the road 
where we had to pass, and of its being also infested 
with Neapolitan deserters; but at the same moment 
arrived a party of Austrians, and the officers gave 
us two soldiers as a guard. We travelled night and 
day ; the roads are almost destroyed, and the 
misery of the inhabitants is beyond description. 
At length, however, we arrived at Ancona, and 
found that the Queen had given up the idea of 
going in the Bellona, an Austrian frigate, fitted up 
with silk hangings, carpets, and eighty beds for her 
reception, and now meant to go with a Russian 
squadron of three frigates and a brig. I believe she 
judged rightly, for there had been a mutiny on 
board the Bellona^ and for the sake of accommoda- 
tion she had reduced her guns to twenty-four, while 
the French, in possession of the coast, arm trahaccoli 
and other light vessels that could easily surround 
and take her. I fancy we shall sail to-morrow night 
or the next morning. Mrs. Cadogan and I are to 
be on board one of the frigates, commanded by an 
old man named Messer, a native of England, who 
once served under Lord Howe and has an excellent 
reputation. The rest of our party go with the 
Queen, and say they shall be very uncomfortable. 
Lord Nelson talks often of the Foudroyantf whatever 
is done to turn off the conversation, and last night 



MARIA CAROLINA 321 

he was talking with Captain Messer of the man- 
oeuvres he intended to make in case he accepted 
of another command. In short, I perceive that his 
thoughts turn towards England, and I hope and 
believe he will be happy there. The Queen and 
her daughters have been very kind to me, especially 
when I was ill. . . . The Queen speaks of you 
often, and always with the highest esteem. . . . 
Lord Nelson has been received with acclamations 
in all the towns of the Pope's States. . . . Our cots 
are ready and the carriages on board. . . . 

" Trieste, August ()thy 1800. — . . , I told you we 
were become humble enough to rejoice at a Russian 
squadron conveying us across the Adriatic; but had 
we sailed as was first intended, in the imperial 
frigate, we should have been taken by eight 
trahaccoliy which the French armed on purpose at 
Pisaro. Sir William and Lady Hamilton and Lord 
Nelson give a miserable account of their sufferings 
on board the Commodore's ship (Count Voinovitch). 
He was ill in his cot, but his first lieutenant, a 
Neapolitan named Capaci, was, it seems, the most 
ignorant and insolent of beings. Think what Lord 
Nelson must have felt 1 He says a gale of wind 
would have sunk the ship. ... I hope we shall be 
able to set off to-morrow night for Vienna. The 
Queen and thirty-four of her suite have had fevers ; 
you can have no idea of the helplessness of the party. 
How we shall proceed on our long journey is to 
me a problem, but we shall certainly get on as fast 
as we can, for the very precarious state of Sir 
William's health has convinced everybody that it is 
necessary he should arrange his affairs. . . . Poor 



322 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

Lord Nelson, whose only comfort was in talking of 
ships and harbours with Captain Messer, has had a 
bad cold, but is almost well, and, I think, anxious 
to be in England. He is followed by thousands 
whenever he goes out, and for the illumination that 
is to take place this evening there are many '^ Viva 
Nelsons" prepared. He seems affected whenever 
he speaks of you, and often sighs out, ^ Where is 
the Foudroyant f "^ 

At last the wearisome, perilous journey came to 
an end, and the immense party arrived safely at 
Vienna. In spite of the coolness which had been 
between him and the Queen, King Ferdinando had 
been exceedingly anxious all this time about the 
safety of his wife and family. 

*^ The King had, perhaps, never in his life written 
so many letters to his imperial daughter in Vienna 
as at this time, when he had no certain news of the 
fate of the travellers, and every line makes it evident 
that the stalwart Nimrod had not one peaceful hour 
until he knew that ^ mamma and the children ' 
were out of danger." ^ 

^ Autobiography of Cornelia Knight. 

= " Der Konig hat vielleicht in seinem Leben nicht so viel Briefe 
an seine KaiserUche Tochter in Wien geschrieben als in dieser 
Zeit da er nichts sicheres iiber das Schicksal der Reisenden wusste, 
und jede Zeile spricht dafiir dasz der gewaltige Nimrod nicht eine 
ruhige Stunde hatte, so lang er nicht * Mamma und die Kinder ' 
ausser aller Gefahr wuszte." — "Maria Karohna von Oesterreich" 
(Helfert). 



CHAPTER XX 

Arrival at Vienna — Departure of Lord Nelson and the Hamillons — 
The two surviving daughters of Maria Theresia — The imperial 
family circle — Life at Vienna and Schonbrunn — The Prime 
Minister Thugut — The war — Flight of the Grand-duke and 
Grand-duchess of Tuscany — Treaty of Luneville — Naples 
threatened — Paul, Emperor of Russia — Naples saved by the 
Queen — A dramatic concert — The Archduke Anton and 
Princess Amelie — The Spanish proposals — Terror of Amelie — 
The Prince of the Asturias chooses Antoinette — A melancholy 
parting. 

AFTER so long, so perilous and so harassing a 
journey, it was not surprising that the Queen 
was worn out and ill for several days. However, 
she was now safe, and once again in her own 
country, among her own people, with the daughter 
she idolised. ^^We will go and see the dear mother 
and all her darling children," she had exclaimed 
when talking of her proposed departure from 
Palermo ; but the desire to see her relations and 
revisit her old home had not been the only reason 
for her journey. 

The plan had been made and begun to be carried 
out in the full height of her confidence in the 
continuation of the success which was just then 
attending the arms of the allied Powers, and Maria 
Carolina, in the joy and triumph of her heart, 

323 



324 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

not only felt secure in the possession of the 
Two Sicilies, but desired that the dominions of 
Ferdinando should be further extended as a reward 
for the great assistance they had undoubtedly 
rendered to the cause. 

It was about this that she wished to speak to the 
Emperor, and also to strengthen his resolution and 
confirm his animosity against the French. But the 
disaster of Marengo and the calamities which 
followed put an end to all projects of gaining any 
additional territory ; the question now was whether 
they would be able to keep what they already had ; 
only the Queen was still just as resolved to exert 
her influence over her son-in-law in order to 
prevent his relaxing in his efforts. 

The Queen's influence over the Emperor was 
exactly what the Austrian Prime Minister Thugut 
foresaw and dreaded. He heard with consternation 
of her coming, and even tried to persuade the 
Emperor to send a messenger to put her off. 

It was, however, decided that this was impossible. 
To decline the visit of the aunt of the Emperor and 
mother of the Empress, herself a reigning Sovereign, 
was out of the question ; no steps were therefore 
taken to dissuade her ; she was welcomed with all 
the honour due to the daughter of Maria Theresia, 
while the progress of Nelson from Trieste to Vienna 
was one long triumph. 

Lady Hamilton was presented at the court of 
Vienna by Lady Minto, wife of the Enghsh 
Ambassador, and all, Neapolitan and English, were 
magnificently entertained by the great Austrian 
nobles as well as by the imperial family. 




Francis I. Emperor of Austria. 
After the painting by Leopold Kupelwicser, in the Imperial Chateau of Laxenburg, Austria. 



To face p. 324. 



MARIA CAROLINA 325 

At Eisenstadt, the castle of Prince Esterhazy, 
where they spent four days, they were always served 
at dinner by a hundred grenadiers, the shortest of 
whom was six feet high, who stood round the 
table. 

Towards the end of September the Queen took 
leave of the Hamiltons, who were returning to 
England with Lord Nelson. It was a final farewell ; 
Sir William, who had been the tried friend of more 
than two-thirds of her lifetime, was failing in health 
and lamenting his departure from Italy, which he 
did not long survive. Lady Hamilton, still ardent 
in her professions of love and devotion to the 
Queen and gratitude for her constant kindness and 
generosity, she never met again. 

One sister still remained to Maria Carolina, the 
Archduchess Elisabeth, Abbess of Innsbruck, who, 
in spite of the great disappointment of her life, 
that no husband had been found for her, and that, 
as she feared, she had been obliged to stay at home 
with the Emperor, was as lively and popular as ever. 
All of us, when youth has passed, know the 
melancholy feeling which mingles with the pleasure 
of family reunions in the old home, especially after 
any considerable time of absence, and the meeting 
of Elisabeth and Maria Carolina must have been 
deeply affecting to them both. 

The young Princes and Princesses on both sides 
were delighted with each other and were always 
together, much to the uneasiness of Thugut,i who 
saw with disapproval and perturbation the intimacy 
and affection between the cousins, which daily 
* A. Bonnefonds, Helfert. 



326 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

increased in the vie de famille at Vienna and 
Schonbrunn. 

The meeting with their two eldest sisters was a 
great happiness to the Neapolitan Princesses, and 
they found themselves warmly welcomed in the very 
large circle of their relations of the imperial family. 

Like Francois de Lorraine and Maria Theresia, 
Leopold and Luisa of Spain had had sixteen sons 
and daughters, of whom fourteen survived them ; 
and the merry children and young people who 
pervaded the imperial palaces and gardens must 
have vividly recalled the olden times to the two 
surviving daughters of the great Empress. 

Albert of Saxe-Teschen, the widowed husband of 
the Archduchess Christine, was also at Vienna, and 
showed much interest and affection for the young 
nieces of the wife to whose memory he was ever 
constant.! 

M. Trognon in his life of Marie Amdie, Queen 
of France, speaks of the affection shown at this 
time to that Princess by her uncle the Duke of 
Saxe-Teschen and her brother-in-law, Ferdinand, 
Grand-duke of Tuscany. 

After the stormy, troubled life of the last two 
or three years at Naples and Palermo, the peace and 
shelter of the Austrian home, the comfort and cheer- 
fulness of their daily life, and the simple amuse- 
ments ^nd fetes de famille, the only ones permissible 
just then, were enchanting to the NcapoHtan royal 
family. 

The court during the first few months of their 
stay could not be very gay, owing to the disaster of 

* He was the last Governor of the Austrian Netherlands. 



MARIA CAROLINA 327 

Marengo and the number of families thrown into 
mourning by the results of that battle and of 
Hohenlinden^ which took place a little later. Much 
anxiety was also prevalent as the progress of the 
French armies grew more and more rapid and 
alarming. 

After the battle of Marengo Napoleon wrote to 
the Emperor offering terms of peace very favour- 
able to Austria. The Emperor hesitated, but the 
Queen of Naples threw all her influence into the 
opposite scale, in which she was supported by Lord 
Minto, and by the all-powerful Minister, Thugut, 
who hated France much more than he disliked the 
Queen. 

*^ She is curiosity and tactlessness personified," he 
wrote of her in 1795 to Colloredo ; ^'in political 
affairs she mixes herself up in everything, great and 
small ..." and he went on to complain of her 
readiness to listen to gossip and her incautious 
way of repeating things, declaring she might do 
more harm to the affairs of the Emperor than the 
loss of a battle. I She now offered the Emperor a 
Neapolitan army to join the Germans in Tuscany 
and the Papal States, and although matters were so 
far advanced that the Emperor had written an 
autograph letter to Napoleon, promising to ratify 
whatever his ambassador. Count de St. Julien, should 
decide, negotiations were already going on, and 
Duroc had started for Vienna, he was persuaded to 
cut short the preliminaries of peace and recall St. 
Julien. 

^ " Konigin Karolina von Neapel und Sicilien im Kampfegegen 
die franzosische Weltherschaft " (Freiherr v. Helfert). 



328 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

The war began again, and Napoleon, attributing 
it in great part to the influence of the Queen of 
Naples, was all the more infuriated against her. 

The progress of events, however, soon became so 
alarming that the Austrian government made fresh 
overtures for peace, an armistice was proclaimed at 
Hohenlinden, and finally the treaty of Luneville 
was concluded, putting the French in possession of 
nearly the whole of Italy north of Naples. 

The grand-duchy of Tuscany was seized and 
given to the Duke of Parma, that State having been 
taken and united to what was called the ^* Cisalpine 
Republic," to the grief of the Tuscans, who were 
devoted to their own Prince and his family. 

To Ferdinand, instead of the province he and 
his father had ruled so admirably, was giveji later 
on a deplorable substitute, the grand-duchy of 
Wurzburg. 

But fourteen years afterwards the fall of Buona- 
parte and the victory of the allied Powers replaced 
him in his own dominions. Meanwhile he took 
refuge with his wife and children at Vienna. 

By the treaty of Luneville peace was concluded 
with every country except England. The unparal- 
leled success of the French arms had plundered, 
diminished, or confiscated various States in Italy 
and Germany ; but in spite of all this there w^as a 
general sense of relief from the terrors and suffer- 
ings lately prevailing, the exceptions to the rejoic- 
ings being the Neapolitan family, whose son-in-law 
and second daughter had lost Tuscany, and who 
were themselves excluded from the treaty. The 
King of Naples had suddenly sent three legions to 



MARIA CAROLINA 329 

attack the French in Tuscany during the armistice, 
and whether they were aware of the armistice or 
not; this movement did no good but only infinite 
mischief, for the NeapoHtans were defeated, and 
Napoleon, in a fury, ordered Murat with a powerful 
army to invade Naples. 

Maria Carolina, in despair, sent ambassadors from 
Vienna to the Emperor of Russia with an urgent 
letter entreating him to save them by using his 
powerful influence on their behalf with the First 
Consul of the French Republic. 

Her appeal was not in vain. Paul at once sent 
Count Lawacheff to Paris to plead in his name the 
cause of the Queen of Naples, and desired him to 
stop and see her as he passed through Vienna, 
where he was completely fascinated by her and 
by the fortitude and courage which she displayed. 
His admiration and sympathy made him a 
strenuous partisan of her interests, and in conse- 
quence of his representations the First Consul 
agreed to a treaty of peace, which, although it 
consisted of hard conditions, including a heavy 
indemnity, the loss of the principality of Piombino 
and other disadvantageous terms, had two great 
advantages for Maria Carolina. In the first place it 
saved the crown of Naples, and in the second it 
restored to her in a great measure the esteem and 
consideration of Ferdinando, who saw perfectly 
well that she had saved his kingdom. 

For nearly two years the Queen and her children 
remained in Austria, where Maria Carolina was 
always overjoyed to be, and where her children 
were supremely happy. 



330 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

In February, 1801, after the signing of the peace 
of Luneville, the court of Vienna awoke to the 
pleasures and festivities of the Carnival, which was 
unusually brilliant that year by way of contrast to 
the troubles and gloom of the last months. Balls, 
masquerades, concerts, parties of all kinds followed 
in rapid succession, the capital was crowded with 
distinguished visitors of all nations, eager to take 
advantage of the opportunity of travelling in 
safety. 

The Princess Amelie, afterwards Queen of the 
French, speaks in her journal of the happiness of 
her life in Austria and of her enjoyment of all these 
amusements. Being also extremely fond of music, 
she thoroughly appreciated the opportunities so 
constantly presented at Vienna for its study and 
enjoyment. Haydn was then in the height of his 
fame ; Miss Cornelia Knight speaks as follows of a 
concert given before she left Vienna : 

''He was staying at the time with Prince Ester- 
hazy, and presided over the famous concerts given 
by that nobleman at his magnificent palace in 
Hungary. At one time the Prince had an intention 
of giving up these concerts, and told Haydn that the 
next one would be the last. It was a very fine one. 
Towards the conclusion Haydn composed a finale 
so melancholy, so touching, that it drew tears from 
many of the audience, and he had given orders that 
while it was playing the lights should be gradually 
extinguished. All of which made such an impres- 
sion upon the mind of the Prince that he abandoned 
his intention of discontinuing these concerts." 

With the vie de famille, the simple pleasures and 



MARIA CAROLINA 331 

outdoor amusements of the German imperial 
family was mingled, especially on state occasions, 
much of the usage and ceremonial of ancient 
times. 

Amongst other great functions attended by the 
young Neapolitans were the reception of their 
cousin, the Archduke Charles, as Knight of the 
Teutonic Order, with all the religious pomp and 
solemnity of the days of chivalry. 

Also the opening of the Diet of Presburg, a 
magnificent spectacle, to which the wild, picturesque 
figures of the Hungarian nobles, their strange 
customs and the extraordinary splendour and 
richness of their costumes lent an almost Oriental 
atmosphere. 

They made a pilgrimage also to Maria Zell, in 
Styria, the scene of the death of their grandfather, 
the Emperor Francois de Lorraine, to which their 
mother had performed the same journey before her 
marriage. They travelled for two days through wild 
and beautiful scenery to the lovely, solitary place 
amongst the mountains, which, with its imposing 
church, so impressed the Princess Amelie that she 
said that if she were to be established in Germany 
she would often go and spend ten days or a fortnight 
there. 

Why the Queen, amongst so many princes and 
archdukes, did not find a suitable parti for at least 
one of her daughters seems rather strange, more 
especially as she was extremely anxious about their 
establishment. 

Leopold, Prince of Salerno, was only nine years 
old when he came to Vienna ; but Christine, Amelie, 



332 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

and Antoinette were seventeen, nineteen, and 
two-and-twenty. 

One of the young archdukes, at any rate, fell in 
love with Amelie, and paid her devoted attentions 
both in public and private. He would loiter about 
under her windows, looking up anxiously for a 
glimpse of her ; and the Queen, observing this and 
other incidents, but knowing that the Archduke 
Anton was destined to be Prince-Bishop of 
Bamberg, one of the greatest ecclesiastical 
seigneuries of the Empire, spoke to her daughter 
and offered, if she wished to marry him, to appeal 
to the Emperor and take measures to get the vows 
he had already made annulled. It is likely enough 
that Maria Carolina would not have objected to 
marrying another of her daughters to a third Arch- 
duke, but Amelie did not wish for the marriage, and 
as there was no strong political reason for it, the 
matter dropped. 

But another husband, who would have been far 
more distasteful to her, was proposed for Amelie, 
in the shape of the Prince of the Asturias, and the 
very idea of this marriage filled her with dread. 
She knew well enough that about such an alliance 
she would not be allowed any choice ; it was far 
too splendid and too politically important ; it was 
no more possible for her to refuse the Prince of 
the Asturias than it had been for her mother and 
aunt to refuse the King of Naples and Duke of 
Parma. Only a lucky chance could save her, as it 
did by the Prince of the Asturias expressing a wish 
to marry her younger sister, Antoinette. It was, 
of course, all the same to the royal families of 




Princess Amei.ik, 
Wife of Louis Philippe, King of France, 



To face p. 332. 



MARIA CAROLINA 333 

Spain and Naples which of the two it should be, 
so Antoinette was substituted for Am^lie, and the 
dark future from which the elder sister had recoiled 
with such gloomy forebodings was transferred from 
her to the younger one. 

It was not until the end of May, 1802, that the 
Queen and her children returned to Naples. The 
parting from so many who were so dear to them, 
and with whom, during nearly two years, they had 
been living in the most affectionate intimacy, was 
a very sorrowful one, and would have been still 
more so had they known that the dearest amongst 
all those who separated so reluctantly amidst tears 
and lamentations would meet no more on earth. 



CHAPTER XXI 

Return to Naples — Death of Clementine, Princess Royal — 
Renewal of influence with the King — Death of the Grand- 
duchess of Tuscany — More conspiracies — Two Spanish 
marriages — Isabel, Princess Royal — Threatened dangers — 
Nelson — The ninety dogs of the King — Unhappy fate of 
Antoinette, Princess of the Asturias — The King of Spain and 
the violinist — The Queen of Naples and her daughter-in-law — 
A dangerous breakfast — Lady Hamilton — Her extravagance 
and greed for money — Infatuation of Lord Nelson. 

IT was with a heavy heart that Maria Carolina 
once more set out on her journey to Naples, 
turning away from her beloved Austria, where for 
the last two years she had led a life so sheltered, 
honoured, and dignified, so surrounded with 
affection and security, and so comparatively peace- 
ful that it contrasted only too strongly with the 
experiences which had gone before and those still 
to come. 

Here, in her native Austria, she felt happy and 
at home, received and reverenced by her country- 
men as an Austrian Princess, daughter and sister 
of their own Emperors, mother of their present 
Empress, familiar to them all from her earliest 
childhood ; here she was amongst civilised and 
reliable people, unlike, indeed, to the fierce and 
fickle Neapolitans, who regarded her with jealousy 

334 



MARIA CAROLINA 335 

as a foreigner, repaid her benefits with ingratitude 
and her friendship with treachery, Hstened to the 
infamous slanders of the French and Jacobins 
against her character, laid upon her the blame of 
all the evil deeds of Ferdinando, and gave him the 
credit of all her good ones. 

In spite of the attempts of Thugut to sow dis- 
trust and suspicion between her and the Emperor, 
which had made the position of the young Empress 
between her husband and her mother at times 
rather embarrassing, Maria Carolina had still a 
great deal of influence over the mind of her 
vacillating son-in-law, at all events when she was 
with him ; how it would be after her departure 
she could not foresee. But there was no apparent 
prospect of the peace in which everybody was 
rejoicing being broken for the present ; the King 
had gone back to Naples, where he was now 
holding his court, and where it was now necessary 
that the Queen and royal family should also 
return. 

During her absence at Vienna another grief had 
come to Maria Carolina in the death of her little 
grandson, the son of the Prince Royal, quickly 
followed by that of her Austrian daughter-in-law, 
the Princess Clementine, to whom she was much 
attached. ^ The little granddaughter who survived 

^ On December 6, 1801, the Queen wrote to Lady Hamilton 
from Vienna : " You have, of course, shared in the grievous 
misfortune I have experienced in losing my dear and good 
daughter-in-law. It destroyed the single happiness that remained 
to me in a perfect union and domestic attachment. This dear and 
good Princess died like a saint, and her husband is in the deepest 
despair. My dear children do nothing but mourn for their sister- 



336 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

was an object of deepest affection to her, and, like 
her own children, she had secured an Austrian 
nurse or governess for her. 

They stopped at Maria Zell on their journey to 
perform their devotions, and proceeded to Trieste, 
where a Neapolitan frigate was waiting to take them 
to Italy. Between Foggia and Naples they were 
met by the King, and on the 17th August the royal 
family and their numerous suite entered the capital, 
which the young Prince of Salerno and his sisters 
had not seen since their flight from it four years 
before. To be once again at Caserta, Portici, Capo 
di Monte, and all the enchanting, well-remembered 
places, went far to console the Princesses for their 
leaving Vienna ; but for their mother, cares, 
troubles, and anxieties soon began to accumulate. 

A still more severe grief fell upon the King and 
Queen not many weeks after the return of the latter 
to Naples, in the death of their second daughter, 
the Grand-duchess of Tuscany, leaving a son and 
three daughters. 

The Queen had been coldly received by the 
Neapolitans, who, in spite of the cruelties of Fer- 
dinando, had welcomed him back with accla- 
mations of delight. The calumnies, however 
preposterous, which had been industriously cir- 
culated about Maria Carolina had borne their 

in-law, who was a tender sister to them, and would at my death 
(which by reason of my troubles and griefs cannot be distant) 
have been a mother to them. . . . You write now so rarely to me 
that I imagine myself half forgotten by you ... a thousand pain- 
ful circumstances hinder me from establishing my two daughters, 
whom I must take back to Naples, probably to remain there for 
life." — "The Queen of Naples and Lord Nelson" (Jeaffreson). 



MARIA CAROLINA 337 

fruit, as her enemies foresaw, and were believed, 
or at any rate asserted, by the Jacobins and their 
friends. For, as one of the clauses in the treaty 
with Napoleon had insisted upon an entire amnesty 
for the Neapolitan Jacobins, they had returned in 
great numbers to Naples and had recommenced 
their plots against the government, animated by 
a fiercer hatred than before of the Queen, whom 
they regarded as their chief enemy. 

Maria Carolina met their conspiracies by renewed 
vigilance of the police ; spies were at work again, 
and after a short time the King announced his 
intention of taking energetic measures to defend 
himself and his kingdom against traitors at home 
and abroad ; following which proclamation came 
suspicions, arrests of guilty and sometimes of 
innocent people, trials before the Junta of the 
State, punishments of various degrees, and all the 
deplorable atmosphere of alarm and irritation which 
was the inevitable consequence. 

Before this proclamation, however, the marriage 
took place of the Princess Antoinette with the 
Prince of the Asturias ; also of the Prince Royal, 
who had been a widower less than a year, with 
the Infanta Isabel, daughter of the King of Spain. 

The Neapolitans, in spite of the little love they 
now bore the Queen, rejoiced at her return, as, 
in the first place, they had no longer to support 
the numerous retinue with which, with her usual 
extravagance, Maria had held her court at Vienna, 
and secondly, they welcomed the renewal of the 
festivities which would of course attend the presence 
of the Queen and her daughters in the capital. 

23 



338 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

The marriages of the Prince Royal and his 
youngest sister were extremely popular for these 
reasons, and also because it was hoped and sup- 
posed that these Spanish alliances would unite the 
royal families of Spain and Naples as closely as 
the former ones had done those of Austria and 
Naples — a hope which proved altogether delusive. 

The King had at first thought of conducting his 
children to Spain himself, but he relinquished the 
idea and sent Acton instead. 

The Princess Antoinette was married to the 
Prince of the Asturias by proxy at Naples in 
October, 1S02, amidst rejoicings that must have 
seemed a mockery to the young girl who was thus 
sacrificed, and to her sisters, who were heartbroken 
at the parting. In M. Trognon's life of Queen 
Amelie he describes the bitter grief of that Princess 
on this occasion. She had hated and dreaded this 
marriage for herself ; she hated and dreaded it for 
her sister ; and when the Spanish warship which 
came to fetch Antoinette was signalled on entering 
the bay of Naples her heart sank. For although 
there was in one way more similarity between Italy 
and Spain, both Southern countries, their royal 
families nearly related to each other, still their 
Spanish and Austrian cousins were regarded in a 
widely different manner by the children of Maria 
Carolina, by whom they had been brought up to 
look upon Austria as a second home, and who 
loved their Austrian relations with an affectionate 
familiarity increased by their long sojourn amongst 
them, and by the superior and amiable characters 
most of them possessed. 



MARIA CAROLINA 339 

With their Spanish relations it was very different. 

Carlos IV. was a weak, miserable prince, under the 
sway of the Queen, a woman of odious disposition, 
herself governed by her disreputable favourite, 
Manuel Godo'i. Of the Prince of the Asturias 
they probably knew little or nothing. 

Amidst ringing of bells, firing of guns, illumina- 
tions, and shouting crowds, the Spanish and 
Neapolitan warships left the Bay of Naples con- 
veying the brother and sister — the one to return 
shortly with a Spanish bride, the other leaving 
for ever the home of her childhood and all she 
loved. 

The Princess of the Asturias, without being 
pretty, had a charming, attractive personality. The 
Duchesse d'Abrantes, who saw her soon afterwards, 
says of her that no one would have supposed she 
could have been of Neapolitan blood. She had 
the blue eyes and fair hair of her Austrian mother 
and the Habsburg lip. She had the Bourbon nose, 
but not pronounced enough to be ugly. Though 
not tall she was extremely dignified, and when she 
smiled all her face seemed to light up ; and though 
reserved and rather silent, her face was exceedingly 
expressive and interesting. She was an excellent 
musician, spoke seven or eight languages, was 
passionately fond of poetry and painting, and 
amused herself almost entirely in various artistic 
and intellectual pursuits. 

Spain at that time had altered very little from 
what it had been for the last hundred or hundred 
and fifty years. 

The Duchesse d'Abrantes, when she passed some 



340 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

time there with her husband on her way to Portugal, 
where he was the French Ambassador, says of 
Spain : 

"Nothing can be compared to this first sight 
of a country so strangely opposed to our own in 
manners, customs, and language. England, sepa- 
rated from us by the Straits, is much less different 
from our country than is Spain from the last village 
of France situated on the banks of the Bidassoa. . . . 
Spain, with its truly local colour ; its usages, singular, 
but well adapted to the country ; the customs suited 
to the character of its inhabitants ; everything, even 
to the costume which foreign women are obliged 
to wear to avoid being insulted if they go out 
without having put it on, it all pleased and attracted 
me."^ 

After a few days the Prince Royal returned with 
his young wife, the Infanta Isabel, a young girl 
by no means calculated either in appearance, 
manners, or disposition to fill the place in any 
way of either the Archduchess Clementine, her 
predecessor, or the Princess Antoinette, for whom 
she had just been exchanged. 

She was only fourteen years old and looked 
younger, a mere child, stupid, not half educated, 
plain, and undeveloped. " Little, and as round as 
a ball," remarks her sister-in-law. Princess Amelie, 
with disapprobation in her journal. 

That the King and Prince Royal, neither of whom 
was 2 likely to be very exacting with regard to in- 

* " Memoires de la Duchesse d'Abrantes." 

' As another specimen of the want of education of the King : 
during a discussion in which some remark was made about the 



MARIA CAROLINA 341 

tellectual attainments, regarded her with perplexed 
consternation is evident from the fact that they 
both entreated the Princess Amelie to educate and 
look after her, which that excellent person attempted 
to do, but soon gave up in despair ; finding, as might 
be expected, that it was better not to interfere with 
a married sister-in-law and Princess Royal, even if 
she were only fourteen years old. 

The Queen was by no means pleased with her 
new daughter-in-law ; and the losses she had sus- 
tained made her cling all the more closely to the 
two daughters who remained to her, and who were 
always with her. They had now a German lady-in- 
waiting to take the place of their dear and faithful 
Signora Ambrosio, who, having become blind, 
could no longer hold that post, though she con- 
tinued to live in the palace and to pass much of 
her time with them. 

Sir William Hamilton died in April, 1803. In 
him the Queen lost a firm and valuable friend, 
whose help and fidelity she could ill spare. 

The treaty of Amiens between France, Great 
Britain, Holland, and Spain was another blow to 
her ; but that the English Government had not 
much faith in the intentions of Napoleon, and 
was mindful of the interests of its Neapolitan 
friends, is evident by the instructions given from 
the Admiralty to Lord Nelson, as follows : 

^' Your lordship is to be very attentive in 
observing if the French have any design of 

power of the Turks and the extent of their dominion, he repHed 
that it was no wonder, for before the birth of Christ all the world 
was Turkish. 



343 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

attacking the kingdom of Naples or Sicily, and 
your lordship is to exert yourself to counteract 
it, and to take, sink, burn, or destroy any ships 
or vessels which may be so employed, and to 
afford to his Sicilian Majesty and his subjects 
all the protection and assistance which may be 
in your power consistently with a due attention 
to the other important objects entrusted to your 
care." 

The Queen wrote to Lord Nelson expressing her 
"eternal gratitude" for a protection which was so 
likely to be required, for the French army in 
Italy was being steadily increased. The French 
garrisons, forced by the treaty to be allowed in 
Neapolitan territory, amounted to thirteen thousand 
men, and Nelson wrote to the British Government 
urging them to send troops enough to defend 
Sicily, garrison Gaeta and the castles of Naples, 
and send a force into Calabria to support the 
warlike peasants in case the French became too 
imperious in their demands. 

In a letter to Lady Hamilton he wrote in 
July, 1803: 

" I have made up my mind that it is a part of 
the plan of that Corsican scoundrel to conquer the 
kingdom of Naples. He has marched thirteen 
thousand men into the kingdom on the Adriatic 
side, and he will take possession, with as much 
shadow of right, of Gaeta and Naples, and if the 
poor King remonstrates or allows us to secure 
Sicily, he will call it war, and declare a 
conquest." ^ 

* Jeaffreson. 



MARIA CAROLINA 343 

Meanwhile the King and Queen had not the 
power to protect themselves, as they were short 
of money and soldiers, and nearly the whole of 
their splendid fleet had been destroyed at the 
time of their flight to Sicily. 

An English man-of-war was kept stationed in 
the Bay of Naples in case of the necessity arising 
for another flight to Sicily. 

On her return from Vienna the Queen found that 
all authority in every branch of State affairs was 
in the hands of Acton, who, during her long 
absence, had acquired a great deal more power 
and more influence over the King than she was 
disposed to allow.^ Maria Carolina was not likely 
to submit to the dictation of the man whose career 
she herself had made, and who, having now 
rendered himself necessary to the King, was dis- 
posed to set himself in opposition to her. This 
state of things she was resolved not to stand, but 
it was requisite to proceed with caution, as Acton 
appeared to be all-powerful with Ferdinando, 
dreaded and flattered by everyone. When he 
went to Spain with the Prince Royal and 
Princess of the Asturias he was received with 
extraordinary honours by Carlos IV., who even 
bestowed on him the order of the Golden 
Fleece, while everyone tried to flatter and pro- 
pitiate him, as he was supposed to be hostile to 
the friendship and alliance of Spain and Naples. 

The influence of the Queen, however, now that, 
after her interposition had saved the crown of 
Naples, she had returned there to resume her 
' A. Bonnefonds. 



3^^4 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

position and authority, had soon returned. 
Ferdinando's love for her was now changed into 
the sort of friendship which long association, 
community of interests, their mutual affection 
for their children, and the habit of looking to 
her for guidance and help, had cemented, not- 
withstanding the outbursts of violence of temper 
and excitement which now, as ever, were so 
serious a fault in her character. 

In the spring of 1803 the King, who liked Sicily 
much better than she did, was anxious to spend 
some time there. The Archbishop of Palermo, 
president of the Council, had died, and Ferdinando, 
on pretext of affairs of business of the State, pro- 
posed to go there, and, as a preliminary, sent over 
ninety sporting dogs. The plan, however, was 
vehemently opposed by the Queen, who wrote to 
her daughter, the Empress : 

" 12 February, 1803. Your dear father is very 
anxious to return there (to Sicily) which is scarcely 
possible, seeing that to leave this country would 
cause the revolution to break out again." ^ 

The ninety dogs were accordingly brought back 
later on under the protection of the Austrian flag. 

The French Ambassadors of Napoleon, though 
as a rule not persons remarkable for their polish 
or courtly manners, were at all events not the 
brutal ruffians sent by the Jacobins and their 
immediate successors, and the one now at Naples 
was anxious to make himself agreeable to the 

* " 12 Fevrier, 1803. Votre cher pere desire virement d'y 
retourner, ce qui n'est guere possible, vu que de laisser ce pays 
ci ferait la revolution de nouveau. . ." (Helfert). 



MARIA CAROLINA 345 

Queen, whom he rather admired. Not, one must 
suppose, for her beauty, which was now a thing 
of the past, for she was nearly fifty years old, her 
hair was white, and her face already marked with 
the deep lines caused perhaps more by care and 
sorrow than by age. But he was fascinated by her 
conversation and personality, strange, original, and 
cultivated,! but voluble and imprudent. Talented 
and full of decision, she was unmethodical, and so 
incautious that she would let out important secrets 
without consideration, and so much of impulse was 
mingled with her diplomacy as to call forth later on 
the celebrated remark of Napoleon : 

" Is your Majesty's mind, so distinguished 
amongst women, so unable to divest itself of 
the prejudices of your sex that you must treat 
affairs of state as if they were affairs of the heart ? " 

To the revolutionist Ambassador, M. Alquier, 
it was also flattering to associate with and 
receive the confidences of the singular and gifted 
woman who was not only a Queen, but a daughter 
and sister of Emperors. 

With her hostility to Napoleon was mingled a 
certain admiration of his genius, and just at this 
time he hoped by flattery and menaces to over- 
come her opposition to his supremacy. He is 
even said to have entertained a vague idea of 
marrying his stepson, Eugene de Beauharnais, to 
the Princess Amelie, an alliance to which the 
Queen would never have given her consent. 

The oppressive tyranny and interference of 
Napoleon became more and more insupportable, 
^ A. Bonnefonds. 



346 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

He insisted upon the retirement of Acton, on the 
plea that, being an Englishman, he was necessarily 
hostile to French interests. Powerless to resist, 
the King yielded, and Acton retired to Palermo 
with his wife and child. 

" He carries with him esteem and confidence," 
wrote the King to Lord Nelson. *' I shall write 
to him whenever anything happens, and I shall 
profit by his advice, which I have always found 
wise, firm, and useful." ^ 

The marriage of her youngest daughter had 
brought fresh sorrow to the Queen. 

For Antoinette, or '' Toto " as she called her, was 
very unhappy in Spain. When first she arrived there 
she found her husband, the Prince of the Asturias, 
cold and indifferent, but her father and mother-in- 
law, kind, attentive, and pleased with her. 

Very soon, however, all this was changed. The 
Prince of the Asturias fell violently in love with 
her. The Queen became jealous, and, the King 
being a nonentity, her life was made miserable 
by her mother-in-law and her infamous favourite. 

The love of her husband, which she returned, 
was her only consolation, but both he and she 
were surrounded by spies and informers and 
were exposed to the hostility of the Queen and 
Godoi. Melancholy and sad in the strange, un- 
congenial surroundings, she thought sadly of the 
old life at Vienna, Naples, or Palermo, and wished 

» This was a little later. The Queen had also an idea that 
Jerome Buonaparte was the husband thought of for one of the 
Neapolitan Princesses, and observed that she could not bring her- 
self to allow such a mesalliance. 



MARIA CAROLINA 347 

she could return to her mother, to whom she 
wrote that she could not imagine how her sisters 
could wish to marry, when all she longed for was 
to go back to her home, where she had been so 
free and happy. 

The Queen's grief and anxiety for her daughter 
can be easily understood, and appears in many 
letters of hers at this time : 

'^ My dear, good, and beloved Toto ... is in 
every way unhappy. ... If God strengthens her 
I hope she will be an honour to us, if only she 
does not succumb . . ." 

'* Her husband is everything to her, but her 
mother-in-law is a wretch. I fear all, as she has 
neither religion, morals, nor any right principles 
whatever. No one would believe the . . . dis- 
orders and infamy of that house, of which my 
daughter writes to me, and of which I hear from 
everyone who comes from there. . . ." 

^' The horrid Queen has dismissed the two faithful 
Ochiers, sent away la St. Teodoro with her children, 
and ordered the Duke, Ambassador, not to come 
any more to the palace but to leave immediately, 
and all that because they will not repeat to her 
all that my daughter and her husband do in their 
own apartments." 

The position of the unfortunate young princess 
was made worse by her having no children. Twice 
there had been hopes of an heir, but each time they 
were doomed to disappointment. 

Maria Carolina would have gladly received her 
daughter and son-in-law at Naples, but she was 
unable to accomplish their removal from Madrid, 



348 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

or in fact to do anything to help the Princess of 
the Asturias, or to lessen her own anxiety and 
fear, not only for her happiness, but for her 
safety. 

Her dislike of the French Republic placed her in 
opposition to Godoi and the Queen. The French 
Revolution and its government had been the terror 
and abhorrence of her childhood and youth, which 
they had filled with dreadful associations and in- 
tolerable annoyances. The French Ambassadors, 
one more vulgar and insolent than another, who 
had represented the Republic at her father's court, 
had been absolutely different from those of any 
other power, and were universally shunned and 
looked upon with disgust. Stories of their igno- 
rance, their ill-breeding, their absurd vanity and 
overbearing coarseness, had been repeated and 
discussed at court and in society. An interview with 
one of them was looked upon with repugnance. 

" Your mamma has had a most indecent scene 
with the French Ambassador," wrote Ferdinando 
on one occasion to his daughter, the Empress. 
" Mamma nearly burst with anger.^ She will write 
to you herself about it later." 

The murder of her aunt and cousin, the horrible 
accounts continually arriving of the deeds of the 
Jacobins in France, the attempts to put Naples 
into their hands, the plots and conspiracies against 
her parents, the dangers, flight, and exile she had 
suffered with her family, were not likely to have 
disposed Antoinette in favour of those to whom 
she owed all this misery. She made no secret of 
^ "Mamma ha mancata di crepare." 



MARIA CAROLINA 349 

her feelings, in which she was supported by her 
husband, and the party in favour of the French 
aUiance, headed by Godoi, abused and calumniated 
her in consequence. 

Junot, afterwards Due d'Abrantes, one of the 
generals Napoleon had raised from the ranks and 
made Ambassador, and afterwards Duke, was, on 
his arrival at Madrid, completely taken in by 
Manuel Godoi. Vain and credulous, he believed 
all he told him, and repeated it to his wife, a 
clever woman of the world, brought up in the 
salon of her mother, who belonged by birth, 
principles, and connections to the ancien regimes 

"The court was at Aranjuez when we arrived 
at Madrid," writes the Duchesse d'Abrantes. 
". . . The Prince-king (Godoi) wishing to please 
the Emperor, was extremely courteous during the 
interview, and Junot returned quite captivated 
with him. ... * He does not like the Prince 
and Princess of the Asturias,' said Junot, ^ and 
he warned me that we should be very badly 
received by them. He told me that France has 
no greater enemy than the Prince Royal. . . .' 
He added that it was his wife, the daughter of 
the King of Naples, who embittered him against 
us. ' Ah ! Monsieur I'Ambassadeur ! ' he cried, 
' Spain will some day have a King who will 
make her very miserable ! . . . This double 
alliance with the house of Naples forms a link 
which is connected with Austria, who has mar- 
ried another daughter of the King of Naples. . . . 
All those women unite in attacking France. Her 
* " A Leader of Society at Napoleon's Court " (Bearne), 



350 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

new glory still offends them, and you would 
hardly believe that this league is formed and 
directed by the Queen of Naples herself. Our 
gracious Queen, whom may God protect, combats 
this evil influence with her son, with all the 
strength of her mind and her maternal love. . . .' 

*' ^ I am astonished at what you tell me/ replied 
I to Junot ; ' 1 have often heard my uncle Demetrius ^ 
speak of the Princess of Naples, who is now Princess 
of the Asturias. He knew her at Naples when he 
was sent on a mission there by the Comte de 
Provence. She is charming, according to what he 
told me ; pretty, and the perfection not only of a 
princess, but of a woman of the world ... in fact, 
she is a most accomplished person. . . .' 

" I had a great wish to know the Princess of the 
Asturias. Having sent to inquire at what hour I 
could be presented to her, I was told that three 
o'clock would be the most convenient time for the 
Princess, who was always occupied, and did not 
waste her time in sleeping, like the inhabitants of 
Aranjuez. For reasons known to myself I desired 
to see the Princess. I had known her for a long 
time, though I had never seen her. Her mis- 
fortunes made her interesting ; her reputation was 
European. One is always grateful to a princess 
who is above other women, and this one was 
indeed superior to them. . . . The Queen of Spain 
. . . from the first took a dislike, which later 
became hatred, to this charming daughter-in-law, 
who in the court circle spoke to every Ambassador 
in his own language. Oh ! there is something 
* Prince Demetrius Comnenus. 



MARIA CAROLINA 351 

horrible in the result of hatred produced by a 
woman's envy. . . . What a destiny was that of 
the Princess of the Asturias ! I knew from different 
persons of her household how unhappy she was. 
Whether he had really been offended by the Prince 
of the Asturias or by the Princess, the conduct of 
the Prince de la Paix (Manuel Godoi) towards them 
both was such that it was impossible the heir to 
the throne should support it without a determined 
resolution to revenge himself. . . . He loved the 
Princess with the deep and true love one feels 
at twenty ; she returned it with sincerity and 
fervour, and I knew before that the attachment 
of these unfortunate young people was the only 
alleviation they found in a life of constant troubles 
and annoyances. . . . The Princess . . . was stand- 
ing by a table, upon which she leant ; a sofa was 
behind her. The Prince was in an adjoining room. 
He came immediately and leaned, like his wife, on 
the same table. Always, I observed, when they 
were together the Prince followed with his eyes 
those of the Princess, that he might be guided 
in what he was to do. . . . She was dressed in 
white ; her gown, made in the simplest manner, 
was one of those pretty embroidered English 
muslins, then so much worn, upon which the 
only contrast was the violet and white ribbon 
of Maria Luisa ; her beautiful fair hair was only 
raised with care, and formed in its masses a 
coiffure nearly as large as that worn by women 
a year ago. The comb which held them was set 
with magnificent pearls mingled with diamonds. . . . 
I came from my audience enchanted and con- 



352 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

quered. The Princess had an art, or rather a 
natural manner, for the word art with her is un- 
suitable ; she had, I say, a manner of attracting and 
conquering which I have never seen in any one else 
but Napoleon ; it was the same expression, first 
grave, then softening, then becoming altogether 
charming. The Princess was not pretty ; some 
people even maintain that she was plain ; it is 
possible. I did not trouble myself about it ; to me 
she appeared pretty and graceful, and I found her 
so because she desired it." ^ 

Maria Luisa, Queen of Spain, according to Mme. 
d'Abrantes, had the remains of beauty ; she was 
very dark ; her daughters, although they resembled 
her, were all ugly .2 

She conversed well and was a good musician. 
As to the weak, miserable Carlos IV., his chief 
delight was in hunting and music. When one 
of his children was dying he went out hunting 
all the same, merely remarking that he could do 
nothing to be of any use. 3 As to his music, it 
was the scourge of the unfortunate musicians who 
were obliged to play with him. Every day when 
he came home from hunting he had a private 
concert, at which the first violinists in Spain were 
obliged to accompany him. One of these unlucky 

* " Memoires de la Duchesse d'Abrantes." 

2 The Queen of Portugal, the Queen of Etruria, the Princess 
Royal of Naples. 

3 It is a singular thing, but Ferdinando of Naples acted in pre- 
cisely the same way when, many years later, Carlos IV., having 
abdicated and settled at Naples, was dying. He wished to see 
Ferdinando, but he had gone out hunting, saying he could not 
arrive in time to see his brother. 



MARIA CAROLINA 353 

individuals one day, after an unusually deplorable 
fiasco, ventured to explain to his Majesty that it had 
been caused by his beginning at the wrong place, 
instead of waiting three bars, according to the notes. 
The King looked at him with amazement, and, 
taking up his violin again, remarked, as he re- 
placed it under his chin, '' Kings never wait." 

The unfortunate marriage of her youngest 
daughter did not make the Queen of Naples 
any the less anxious nor less ambitious for the 
establishment of the others. Carlo Felice, Duke 
of Genoa, youngest brother of the King of Sardinia, 
came to Naples and fell in love with the Princess 
Christine in the autumn of 1803. He was eight- 
and-thirty, but Christine, who was five-and-tw^enty, 
and, like her aunt, the Archduchess Elisabeth, did 
not wish to be ^' the one to stay at home," said 
she much preferred him to the Due de Berri, who 
had been proposed for her some time earlier, and 
was willing to marry him. The Queen, however, 
refused to consent, as the Duke's property was 
small, therefore the matter was at an end for the 
present. 

She would have liked to marry Christine to her 
brother-in-law, the Grand-duke Ferdinand, who 
had made such an excellent husband to her sister ; 
though his German domain was a deplorable sub- 
stitute for Tuscany. This project, however, could 
not be realised, as Ferdinand married someone 
else. 

Maria Carolina seems to have had the habit, so 
irritating to many persons, which prevails in some 
families, of calling her children, whose real names 

24 



354 ^ SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

were pretty, harmonious, and distinguished, by 
hideous and idiotic nicknames, perhaps originating 
in some inarticulate, senseless sound made by them 
in infancy. At any rate, it was by " Mimi " and 
" Toto " that she used frequently to designate her 
daughters Christine and Antoinette when she wrote 
about them to their eldest sister, whom, in spite of 
her absorbing affection for her, she reproached with 
considerable vehemence when on one occasion she 
had not heard from her on her fete-da.y, and when 
nearly two months had passed without the usual 
letters, as the Emperor and Empress were travel- 
ling in Bohemia. 

But notwithstanding her hasty, irritable temper, 
so regrettable in the Queen, her anger quickly 
passed away, and her children were all deeply 
attached to her. 

*^ The mutual behaviour of the children towards 
the mother and the mother towards the children, 
which I have had the opportunity to witness, is 
so affectionate, so unconstrained, and so simple 
that it cannot but most favourably impress the most 
casual observer," says a German writer who had 
been admitted to the society of the royal family 
of Naples ^ ; and Maria Carolina, while entering 
ardently into all the joys and sorrows of her 
children, whether at home or far distant, married 
or single, was anxious to preserve also their affec- 
tion for each other. On one occasion she points 
out to the Empress Theresia that she has been 
a long time without writing to '^ Toto " in Madrid, 

* Gerning, " Reise durch Italien," i. S. 262, 266 ; Kotzebue, 
" Erinnerungen," ii. S. 174 s. (Helfert). 




Thk Prince Royai. of Naples. 



To face f>. 355. 



MARIA CAROLINA 355 

who is longing to hear from her, and that she ought 
not to forget or neglect the sister who is so much 
less happy and fortunate than herself. 

On the 12th of April, 1803, she writes to the 
Empress : 

^'Le jour de Paques tout en faisant mes devotions 
je vous ai, avec le cher Empereur, indignement 
recommande a Dieu, puis au dejeuner de Paques 
j'ai pris votre portion et celle de la chere Antoinette, 
et au moins en idee me suis reunie avec vous. Je 
suis comme sont les vieilles femmes tenant infini- 
ment a toutes les usages, choses ; mais tout cela est 
affaire du coeur et d'un coeur tendrement attache a 
ses enfants." 

And later : 

" J'ai mis de vos cheveux et de ceux d' Antoinette 
pour vous avoir tous aupres de moi." 

Her Spanish daughter-in-law she did not approve 
of or understand. There was not, as she remarked, 
either much harm or good in her. In all respects 
opposed to her own excitable, emotional, passionate 
disposition, Isabel appeared to be incapable of any 
deep feeling or interest whatever. She got on very 
well with her husband, with whom she led the life 
he liked, farming, riding, and also going into society, 
but the household of her eldest son was too much 
in accordance with the tastes of his father to com- 
mend it to the ambitious mind and political 
interests of the Queen. 

That Francesco, at such a time as this and with 
such interests at stake, should be chiefly occupied 
with his cows and the cultivation of his fields was 
incomprehensible to her ; that Isabel should ride 



356 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

half the day and dance half the night, enjoying 
herself, in her cool, apathetic sort of way, without a 
thought or care for anything but trifling pleasures, 
was provoking ; but what most irritated and per- 
plexed her was the attitude of her daughter-in-law 
when it became evident that there was a chance 
of an heir to the throne. Of the children of the 
Queen's beloved Clementine the son had died, and 
the little daughter was being brought up, under her 
grandmother's care, by an Austrian governess. 

To the King, the Queen, and the State the birth 
of an heir to the crown was an event of the greatest 
importance ; but Isabel, who was only fifteen, did 
not like children, was terribly frightened, and con- 
sidered the prospect as a dreadful calamity. To 
the Queen, who was passionately fond of her 
children, whose only regret during her first years of 
married life had been that she was without them, 
who had been delighted when she at length had the 
hope of an heir, and who had welcomed and adored 
sons and daughters with the same love and satisfac- 
tion, Isabel's attitude was altogether inexplicable. 

^' I should like to know what their household 
will be like when she is twenty or thirty years 
older ! " the Queen would exclaim ; and to the 
Empress she wrote : 

^* What I am most anxious to know is whether 
she will care anything about her child, for at 
present she has not the slightest indication of 
any such feeling." ^ 

As the time for the birth of the child drew near 
the terror of the young girl, scarcely more than a 
' Helfert. 



MARIA CAROLINA 357 

child, increased to such a degree that the Queen 
assured the Empress that never in all her life had 
she seen anything like it, and that she and every- 
body were almost driven out of their senses. She 
could not, however, have been otherwise than kind 
to her daughter-in-law, as for some days before her 
confinement she refused to have any one else with 
her ; and Maria Carolina, though ill herself and 
overwhelmed with anxieties and troubles, stayed 
patiently and looked after her until all was over. 
The child after all was not the hoped-for heir, but a 
girl, ^^das ein schones kind ist,"^ concludes the Queen 
in her letter to the Empress, to whom, as usual, she 
poured out all her joys and sorrows. 

Since their return from Vienna Maria Carolina 
had lived rather a retired life with her children. 
With the King and Acton she was on good terms, 
as was shown by both Ferdinando and herself being 
godfather and godmother to a child of Acton's in 
the spring of 1803. 

But the King was generally away hunting, shoot- 
ing, and fishing ; about which he was far more 
interested than in the most weighty affairs of 
the state. 

Often when some important matter had to be 
settled in council it was necessary to send 
messengers and letters after the King, whose 
whereabouts was probably uncertain. He might 
be fishing at some place on the Adriatic, or at 
Persano, on the Bay of Salerno, near the oyster 
fisheries of Fusaro ; but his favourite resort was 
the Belvedere, while the Queen and her three 
' " Which is a beautiful child " (Helfert). 



358 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

younger children were generally either at the 
Favorita, near Portici, or else at the place they 
loved best of all, Caserta, near which was the 
country house, with its farm, of the Prince Royal. 
The horrors and commotions of the '^ Partheno- 
peian Republic" had given them a dislike to the 
palazzo reale at Naples, which had been sacked 
and made the scene of many crimes and outrages. 
The Queen seldom stayed there if she could help it ; 
one of her letters to her daughter, the Empress, is 
a specimen of her aversion to it : 

^^ ]e me trouve a Naples toute isolee, votre pere 
allant a droit et a gauche je suis fine seule dans ce 
vilain palais que je n'aime point. . . . J'ai arrange 
ma bibUotheque, il y a trois chambres, cela a ete 
un grand amusement pour moi, et je la regarde 
comme une ressource et une distraction dans les 
malheurs." 

And in another letter : 

" J'avoue, le sejour dans ce palais d^pouille, ou 
chaque place fait resouvenir d'une abomination me 
fait fr^mir." ^ 

The enemy without and the Jacobins within the 
kingdom were a continual threat and danger. One 
morning the coffee brought for the Queen and her 
children was found to be full of little needles ; this 
was, however, discovered before any harm had been 
done, but to the Queen and royal family Naples was 
becoming like a volcano — at any moment some 
catastrophe seemed liable to happen. 

However, the amnesty was proclaimed, and at a 
grand ball given by the King at the Favorita the 

^ Helfert. 



MARIA CAROLINA 359 

Queen complained of the restraint and burden of 
being obliged to go through it under circumstances 
so uncongenial, and to receive with ceremony and 
compliments, pretending not to recognise them, 
many persons whom she knew only too well. 

Although the Queen's gratitude to and friendship 
for England still continued, there began before long 
to be a coolness in the admiration and liking with 
which she had hitherto been regarded by Nelson, for 
the following reason ; 

When Sir William Hamilton died he did not 
leave his widow nearly so well off as she expected, 
or at any rate desired. Eight hundred a year, eight 
hundred pounds at her bankers', and personal pro- 
perty to the amount of five thousand pounds, 
although a large portion for the daughter of the 
Cheshire blacksmith, or the nursemaid and model, 
Amy Lyon or Emma Harte, was certainly no mag- 
nificent provision for the widow of the English 
Ambassador at Naples. Her income was of course 
considerably augmented by Lord Nelson, her con- 
nection with whom was now well known ; but he 
was not a rich man, and Emma was a woman like 
most of her class, through whose hands money ran 
like water through a sieve. ^ There was no limit to 
her greediness, extravagance, and absurd ostenta- 
tion ; and what both she and Lord Nelson now 
expected was that the Queen of Naples should make 

* After Lord Nelson's death, though complaining of poverty, she 
ran deeply into debt with milliners, dressmakers, &c., gave extra- 
vagant parties, had horses, carriages, and many servants, while 
even her petticoats were trimmed with lace which cost five guineas 
a yard. 



36o A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

good Sir William Hamilton's shortcomings and 
Nelson's want of fortune by herself pensioning this 
woman, the wife of one and mistress of both of the 
men who had certainly been good friends to her. 

If Maria Carolina had been in the position she 
held when first Emma Harte appeared at the court 
of Naples, it is likely enough she would have done 
so, for no one could question her generosity and 
kindness, so constantly displayed and so ill requited. 
But times had changed since those days of pros- 
perity. The Queen had hardly enough money to 
provide for her children, carry on the routine of 
her now retired life and diminished court func- 
tions, and help the numerous friends and faithful 
servants who were in pressing need of assistance. 
The future was so dark, threatening, and uncertain 
that she had already been trying to collect certain 
sums of money belonging to her children and 
transfer them to a safer country, observing that 
for herself she had little or nothing, and would be 
obliged to borrow in order to ensure herself the 
means of subsistence in a foreign land in case of 
trouble. 

In such a position, therefore, to be expected to 
pay a pension to provide luxuries for a foreign 
woman, who had already enough to live upon with 
much greater comfort than her earlier circumstances 
or her subsequent conduct gave her any right to 
expect, was preposterous, and to consider it a 
grievance that the Queen declined to petition the 
English Government to pension this person as a 
favour to herself was surely most unreasonable. 
She had given her magnificent presents repeatedly 



MARIA CAROLINA 361 

when she had the power to do so ; she had loaded 
her with jewels, money, and costly gifts of every 
description, and she could do no more, except that 
she reluctantly consented after much importunity 
to write a letter to the Neapolitan Ambassador in 
London, which should be shown to the authorities, 
expressing her hope that Lady Hamilton's request 
might be granted. More than this she neither 
would nor could do, but Lord Nelson, besotted 
with that passion for Lady Hamilton which was the 
blot upon his glorious career, could not listen to 
reason where she was concerned. ^ 

' It has been the fashion to commiserate Lady Hamilton for her 
extreme poverty, but besides the fortune left her by Sir William 
Hamilton, Lord Nelson left her a house at Merton with seventy 
acres of land, an annuity of ;^6oo, and between ;^25,ooo and ;^30,ooo 
in money. She had, therefore, altogether a house, seventy acres of 
land, an income of ;^i,400 a year, and money and property in addi- 
tion to the amount of more than ;^3o,ooo. And yet she whined 
about poverty, and because the Queen did not give her a pension 
besides, which she could not afford and which was not required, 
except to indulge extravagant folly, she forgot all the former kind- 
ness and generosity of Maria Carolina, and with the base ingrati- 
tude of a vain, spiteful, ungovernable woman of her kind, revenged 
her disappointment by inventing atrocious libels against her bene- 
factress. It was, of course, only after the death of Nelson that she 
did so. In a letter from him after his coolness towards the Queen, 
in which he finds fault with her, he ends by saying, " Do not 
believe a syllable the newspapers say, or what you hear. Mankind 
seems fond of telling lies " (Jeaffreson). 



CHAPTER XXII 

Threatened dangers — The court of Naples — A fearful earthquake 
— Le Rot s'amiise — The allied fleet — Surrender of Mack — 
Trafalgar — Departure of the French Ambassador — Austerlitz 
— Alarm and perplexity at Naples— Flight of Ferdinando — The 
Queen and royal family prepare to escape— Farewell to Naples 
— A perilous voyage — Arrival at Palermo. 

THE peace between France and Naples had 
never given promise of long duration. Both 
the King and Queen knew perfectly well that 
Napoleon was only biding his time to attack them ; 
consequently they occupied themselves with plans 
of defence, which on the 22nd of May, 1804, were 
confided to Nelson by Ferdinando in the following 
letter ; 

*'To you, my dear Lord Nelson, I recommend 
myself again, whatever may occur in case of the 
renewal of the war. The ship which you leave me 
becomes more and more necessary in this bay. 
My wife, son, and I shall divide ourselves. She 
will take upon herself the defence of Naples, my 
son of Calabria, and I shall go to Sicily, while the 
rest of the family will remove to Gaeta." 

That Ferdinando had at any rate returned to his 

old habit of trusting to his wife and placing the 

heaviest burdens and most weighty affairs upon her 

362 



MARIA CAROLINA 363 

shoulders appears evident from this proposal to 
retire himself to Sicily, leaving the defence of the 
capital, the most important post and the most 
immediate danger, to the Queen. 

Maria Carolina was quite ready and willing. She 
was meanwhile occupied by a secret correspondence 
with several European governments concerning a 
new combination against France. 

England, Austria, Russia, and Sweden were enter- 
ing into a secret alliance, which was eagerly joined 
by Naples ; and Maria Carolina, sanguine as ever in 
spite of all the reverses she had met with, again 
began to feel her hopes and spirits revive. 

Outwardly the court of Naples, in spite of want 
of money, threatening calamities, and secret in- 
trigues, was occupied with amusements and inte- 
rests of an intellectual and artistic order. The 
music of Paisello was just then the rage ; Cimarosa 
had died not long after the intervention of the 
Emperor to save him from the consequences of his 
political folly.^ 

The excavations at Pompeii and Herculaneum 
were a perpetual interest ; many beautiful works of 
art were unearthed, besides coins, frescoes, and 
antiquities of all kinds. Discoveries were being 
made besides in Sicily, at Paestum, and in various 
places. The Queen, her children, and the many 
foreigners who just then flocked to Naples, took 
the keenest interest in all this, and were continually 

* Cimarosa composed a hymn for the Parthenopeian Republic. 
When the royalists regained Naples he was attacked by the mob, 
his piano thrown out of the window, and he himself arrested, but 
released at the intercession of the Emperor Paul. 



364 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

at Pompeii and Herculaneum, watching the pro- 
gress of the work and hstening to the explanations 
and theories of the professors and learned men who 
lectured and disputed over the ruins. 

Other and less intellectual amusements of course 
were plentiful : the theatres, tableaux vivants, which 
Lady Hamilton had brought into fashion, balls 
without end. The King occasionally gave a great 
ball at the Favorita ; every week smaller dances 
were given by the Queen, the invitations to which 
were issued in the name of the young Prince of 
Salerno, and thus being regarded as informal, all 
ceremony was dispensed with, and the Queen was 
not obliged to invite persons whose presence she 
did not desire. She was feeling ill and anxious at 
this time, was suffering from fever and cramp, and 
was under the hands of her doctor ; but desiring 
that her children should have all the enjoyment and 
advantages possible, she encouraged and took part 
in the festivities and entertainments, which were 
now a penance rather than a pleasure to her. 

The aspect of affairs was too threatening to allow 
much peace or tranquillity of mind to any except 
quite young people or else those who, like the 
King, thought and cared only for the amusements 
of the moment. 

The presence of the French troops in the king- 
dom was like a perpetual blister, and there was a 
powerful fleet at Toulon which was a continual 
menace. 

To her daughter the Empress, Maria Carolina 
wrote sadly that the fetes of the Carnival were 
without real gaiety, that there was a feeling of 



MARIA CAROLINA 365 

suspense in the air, and everybody was inclined to 
be in low spirits. 

Napoleon, whose spies had revealed to him the 
correspondence going on between the Powers, and 
who saw that all attempts to flatter and cajole the 
Queen of Naples were useless, was once more 
furious against the woman whom, perhaps with 
truth, he regarded as his most determined enemy. 

On January 15, 1815, the French Ambassador 
asked for an audience, and the King being as usual 
amusing himself at one of his country palaces, 
Alquier was received by the Queen with the mutual 
courtesy which was now customary between their 
Neapolitan Majesties and the more polished repre- 
sentatives employed by France since the accession 
of Napoleon to supreme powder. 

He presented a letter which he said he had been 
commissioned to give to the King, and which for- 
tunately the Queen did not open until he had left her. 

After bitter reproaches for the intrigues dis- 
covered, it contained these words : '^ The moment 
war breaks out you and your family will have 
ceased to reign, and your children will wander all 
over Europe asking for help for their parents. . . ." 
He observed that she might consider it a compli- 
ment to hear such plain warnings from him, ^' for 
only to a person of so masculine a character, and 
who rises so far above the ordinary measure, would 
I take the trouble to write with such undisguised 
clearness." 

The Queen, however, was very far from seeing 
anything either complimentary or endurable in this 
missive. She tore it to pieces, threw it on the 



366 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

ground, walked up and down the room in a trans- 
port of rage and excitement, and finally retired to 
bed with an attack of fever which kept her there for 
twenty-four hours. 

Then she got up and set off to Belvedere to find 
the King, whom she brought back to Naples ; 
another audience took place, and affairs were 
patched up for a little longer. 

The 13th of June being the anniversary of the 
recovery of the kingdom of Naples, the royal family 
went to a service in celebration of that event at the 
church of Sant' Antonio. The day before, the Prince 
of Salerno, now fifteen years old, had been con- 
firmed. *' He has been in retreat for a week, three 
days of which of great strictness," writes the Queen 
to her eldest daughter. " He has been very devout 
and earnest about his duties. Our brave Cardinal 
Ruffo was his godfather." 

Notwithstanding the Queen's preference for the 
country, especially during the hot weather, the 
almost continual absence of the King compelled her 
to be in Naples much more than she liked. As 
usual the business of the State was laid upon her 
shoulders, while Ferdinando was hunting or fishing 
or farming. Even if obliged to attend to some in- 
dispensable matter, he was only impatient to get it 
over and go back to Belvedere, or whatever palace 
was the scene of his amusement. The Prince Royal, 
who much resembled his father in tastes and habits, 
was of no assistance to his mother in the transaction 
of business, but was always at his country house at 
Caserta. 

It was the 26th of July, the hottest month of the 



MARIA CAROLINA 367 

burning Italian summer, for the shortening days of 
August bring relief, and after the violent thunder- 
storms which generally come towards the end of 
that month the heat is seldom so overpowering. 

During the whole of the day everyone felt an ex- 
traordinary lassitude and depression. The heat had 
been more oppressive than usual ; in the afternoon 
the sky became overcast, the clouds flying rapidly 
past as if driven by a hurricane, whereas not a 
breath of air was stirring below, this ominous condi- 
tion of things being followed after sunset by a furious 
gale of north wind. 

Night came on with no change for the better. 
The Queen and her children had retired to their 
apartments in the Palazzo reaUj when suddenly a 
fearful shock of earthquake, accompanied by a 
terrible rumbling noise, shook the city. 

The sofa upon which the Queen was sitting was 
overturned, throwing her on to the ground. Prince 
Leopold, without shoes or stockings, rushed into his 
mother's room, and was shortly followed by his 
sisters, who had gone to bed and had been awakened 
out of their sleep by the noise and the fearful move- 
ment. Springing out of their beds, they had both 
taken refuge under the archway of a door, where 
they waited during the first three shocks, watching 
with fear and trembling the walls, which bowed 
towards them and seemed about to fall upon them. 
After the third shock the earth seemed to become 
steadier, and, hastily putting on some clothes, they 
hurried to their mother's room, and, escaping as 
quickly as possible into the open air, they spent the 
rest of the night in a carriage outside the palace. 



368 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

The King at Portici and the Prince and Princess 
Royal at Caserta had the same experience, and, hke 
everyone else, spent the night out of doors. 

For six hundred square miles the ground was 
convulsed, thousands of people were killed, and 
fifty-nine cities or towns destroyed. The calamity 
was greatest near the Apennines, where the ground 
cracked in many places and flames burst forth, Monte 
Frosolone shone like a fiery meteor, and the air was 
filled with a suffocating smell of sulphur. 

The casualties in Naples itself were not nearly so 
severe ; few persons were either killed or injured, 
though a good many houses were damaged and 
some destroyed. 

The Princesses were all the more frightened as 
not long before their apartment in the palace at 
Portici had been struck by lightning, which had 
destroyed an embroidery frame in the Princess 
Amelie's room. They were at church with their 
mother when it happened. The Princess Amelie 
was always very much afraid of earthquakes and 
thunderstorms during the rest of her life. 

Shocks of earthquake kept occurring for a con- 
siderable time, and after three weeks Vesuvius began 
to pour forth streams of lava and show various signs 
of unquietness. 

Another treaty between France and Naples was 
concluded in September and signed on October 9th, 
but it was to be of short duration. Some writers 
assert that at the same time another, a secret 
treaty, was signed at Vienna, by which Naples 
entered the league of Austria, Russia, and England 
against France. 




Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul. 

After the painting by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, 

III the Museum at Liige, Belgium, 



To face p. 3fi9 



MARIA CAROLINA 369 

Other historians declare that no such treaty 
existed,! but whether it did or not, there was no 
possible concealment of the direction in which the 
sympathies of the greatest part of the Neapolitan 
people lay. 

When he was crowned at Milan, Napoleon had 
vented his rage against the Queen of Naples in 
public threats to the Neapolitan Ambassador, de- 
claring that her sons would curse her, and that they 
should seek in vain for a place for their tombs. 

Ten years afterwards, in answer to Napoleon's 
complaints to his stepdaughter during the Hundred 
Days, that his first wife, Josephine, had asked for 
assistance from the allied powers, Hortense 
replied : 

" My mother had no one to support her but her- 
self in the struggle, when she ^yas involved in the 
vengeance you had provoked. Was she then not 
even to ask to secure a tomb in the place where, after 
possessing two thrones, she was reduced to fear not to 
have a refuge where she might die in peace." 

The tidings of the French victory at Elchingen 
under Ney, Soult, Marmont, and Murat, with the 
surrender at Ulm of Mack and his whole army, was 
at first not known and then not believed at Naples. 
It was no wonder, for seldom has been experienced 
by any state a disaster so crushing and so disgrace- 
ful. A German army of a hundred thousand men 

* " Ce pretendu traite n'exista jamais. . . . (II) n'a d'autre 
fondement qui le bruit populaire et le fait posterieur du debarque- 
ment des coalises. . . C'etait un dessein vague, une simple 
eventualite." — Ulloa. 

" Konigin Karolina von Neape lund Sicilien im Kampfe gegeri 
die Franzosische Weltherrschaft " (Helfert). 

25 



370 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

was hopelessly beaten ; sixty thousand prisoners, 
amongst whom were the Commander - in - chief, 
twenty-nine generals, and two thousand officers, 
had fallen into the hands of the conquerors. Those 
who remember Sedan and Metz will know some- 
thing of what it meant to the vanquished. 

The Archduke Ferdinand, resolved not to be 
taken, had left the place secretly, and with four 
squadrons of horse, riding by deserted roads, he 
endeavoured to elude or surprise the French posts, 
and succeeded by rapid marches and bold ren- 
counters in effecting his escape with a few followers 
into Bohemia.^ 

Gradually this crushing blow began to be realised 
and believed in Naples, but Austria was not their 
only ally. Still remained the great armies of 
Russia and the mighty fleet of England, and 
quickly came the news of a great victory at 
Trafalgar. 

Both the French and Spanish fleets were utterly 
destroyed, but Nelson was dead. 

In England itself the mingled triumph and grief 
were scarcely more intense than in Naples. The 
King and Queen were in despair at the death of the 
great Admiral, their friend and protector, and their 
sorrow and fears were shared by all the loyal and 
national party, who began to grumble at the Prime 
Minister, Medici, allude to the old accusations 
against him, which were probably unfounded, de- 
clare he was half a Jacobin, which was quite untrue, 
and wish they had Acton back again. 

Meanwhile all kinds of reports of French victories 
* Colletta, '' Storia del Reame di Napoli." 






MARIA CAROLINA 



371 



and alarming events were circulating in the city. 
No one knew what to believe. 

On the 17th of November the King wrote from 
Belvedere to the Empress of Germany : '^ I assure 
you, my dear daughter, that I am in the greatest 
agitation and perplexity, no news being attainable 
except what the French wish to be believed, which, 
in consequence, is entirely in their favour and to 
their advantage, and would be overwhelming if it 
were true." ^ The most impatient of the anti- 
French party began to call upon the government to 
declare itself decidedly, and to murmur that they 
would wait until the French appeared and no pre- 
parations had been made to resist them. 

The crisis, however, arrived when, on the 17th of 
November, a fleet appeared in the bay of Naples 
with English and Russian troops on board. 

Alquier had already addressed a sharp remon- 
strance to the government, which had lately allowed 
a thousand horses for remounts to be sold to the 
English. He had on the 17th threatened to depart, 
and the following day sought in vain for an audience 
with the King and Queen. He now removed the 
arms of France from the embassy and demanded 
his passports. 

There was dissension in the council ; several of 
the ministers, supported by the Prince Royal, and 
some said by the King himself, were opposed to 

* " Ti assicuro, figlia cara, che la mia agitazione e angustia e 
estrema, qui non pervenendo altre notizie che quelle che si vogliono 
far capitare i Francesi, ed in conseguenza tutte quelle a loro van- 
taggive e favoreroli, quali se fossero vero sarebbero desolanti " 
(Helfert). 



372 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

this undoubted breach of neutrahty and of the 
treaty still in existence with France. 

But the opinions of the Queen and her party 
prevailed ; twenty thousand English, Russian, and 
Montenegrin troops ^ landed, and the French 
ambassador left Naples. 

Everyone crowded to the shore to see the landing 
of the troops, who were received with all honour by 
Ferdinando. The Queen was at Portici, the life and 
soul of the eager consultations held there with the 
generals ; but the scarcity of French news still 
misled them, and prevented their seeing the 
pressing danger of the situation. 

The King, not knowing what to decide, took 
refuge, as usual, in hunting ; the Prince Royal, who 
had from the first disapproved of the breach with 
France, gave free course to his forebodings of evil 
and regrets that his advice had not been taken. 

The Queen, now uneasy and filled with mis- 
givings, moved into Naples to be more in the centre 
of things, and kept writing to the Emperor and 
Empress begging them not to forsake them. 

" Nous sommes entierement expose a la haine de 
Buonaparte par le d^barquement des Anglo-Russes 
chez nous et dont certainement il cherchera a se 
venger," she wrote on December ist, not knowing 
that they were powerless to protect her, having 
fled from Vienna, which the French army had 
entered in triumph. 

Soon came the news of Austerlitz, and early in 
January that of the approach of Massena with a 

* Six thousand English, two thousand Montenegrin, the rest 
Russian (Trognon). 



MARIA CAROLINA 373 

powerful army. It was the beginning of the 
end. 

Naples was in fact helpless. Even if her fleet had 
not been destroyed and her army miserably reduced, 
how could she, without allies, resist the immense 
armies and victorious generals, with the greatest 
commander in the world at their head ? 

For the peace of Presburg with Austria and 
Russia put an end to any hostile action of those 
powers against France ; the handful of English then 
at Naples would have been of no use to oppose 
Massena and his army, and were therefore of course 
withdrawn, in spite of the entreaties of the Queen, 
who was anxious to defend the city to the last, and, 
dressed in deep mourning, went with her children 
in procession to the chapel of Sta. Anna on the 
Chiaja, hoping to excite the warlike and patriotic 
feelings of the populace. 

It was of no use. Ferdinando had already fled 
to Sicily, the French army was drawing nearer 
every day, they must escape while there was yet 
time. 

To most people it must appear strange that the 
Queen, who was so ready for flight in 1798, should 
have been so anxious on this occasion to remain 
and defend the capital and kingdom. 

For on the former occasion it would have been 
much more possible to do so, although Nelson him- 
self was of opinion that the royal family should for 
the time retire from turbulent Naples to loyal 
Sicily. 

But things were not then in such a desperate 
condition as now. They had still the splendid fleet. 



374 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

SO ruthlessly destroyed to save it from the hands of 
the enemy ; the army was in a far better state, and 
the Parthenopeian Republic, which disappeared in 
a few months, was, even when supported by the 
troops of the French Jacobins, a very different foe 
from the mighty conqueror with his array of 
trained, well-tried generals, and his vast armies of 
apparently invincible soldiers, whose powerful hands 
held not only the sceptre of France but the destinies 
of Europe. 

Neither was it exactly with the same feelings that 
she could have regarded this later and far more 
powerful enemy. For the Jacobins, the murderers 
of her sister, her nephew, and her brother-in-law, 
the ruffians whose deeds were the horror of the 
Christian and civilised world, she could never have 
any sentiment but that of execration. But Napoleon 
had nothing to do with the Jacobins. On the con- 
trary he hated them, if possible, as much as she did. 
The murder of the King and Queen was abhorrent 
to him ; the very mention of the attack of the mob 
upon the Tuileries enraged him, and he would often 
regret that he had not then the power to take the 
command and turn the guns upon that canaille. He 
had swept away the Jacobins, their institutions and 
principles, and rejoiced, as he boasted, in ''doing 
away with all their inventions." 

But Maria Carolina was never calm or prudent ; 
and it is true that the mean, cowardly subservience 
of the King of Spain did not save his country from 
one of the most frightful, devastating wars of 
modern times. In any case it was too late to 
avoid the consequences of what had been done ; 



MARIA CAROLINA 375 

the only thing now was to make preparations for 
departure. 

Both the Queen and her daughters felt convinced 
that they were leaving Naples for ever, and their 
tears could not be restrained as they occupied them- 
selves during the last days with the packing of their 
possessions. Only the Princess Royal showed no 
feeling or concern in the disastrous state of affairs. 

She had just recovered from a slight illness, and 
went about as coolly and indifferently as if they had 
all been preparing for a journey of pleasure, much 
to the annoyance of the Queen. 

'^ I am writing on the good Mimi's /d/^-day," she 
says in one of her letters to the Empress. "We 
spend the days in all the horrors of packing and 
in tears. I am prepared for anything, but shall 
endeavour to die without remorse. My daughter- 
in-law . . . sees all the packing going on and 
everyone crying, and she is just like a log, under- 
standing and feeling nothing. Her husband is all 
fire, preparation, honour, and courage, and I pity 
him. Leopold is also full of enthusiasm, but it can 
only end in horror." 

On the nth of February, 1806, all was ready, and 
at four o'clock in the afternoon the Queen, her two 
daughters, her daughter-in-law, her two grand- 
daughters, and eleven ladies and gentlemen of her 
court, went on board the Neapolitan frigate Archi- 
inede, after a heartrending farewell to the Prince 
Royal and Prince of Salerno, who embarked on the 
MinervUy which was to take them to Calabria to join 
the army there. They were, as before, escorted by 
a number of other ships laden with fugitives and 



376 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

property : in fact, the sea was dotted over with sails, 
as there was a general stampede from Naples, 
either to follow the Queen to Palermo or to escape 
elsewhere. 

It was with a sorrowful heart that Maria Carolina 
prepared finally to leave the beautiful capital over 
which she had reigned ever since she was sixteen 
years old. When she was on board ship, before 
giving the signal to sail, she wrote to her eldest 
daughter her last letter from Naples : 

*' I am going to a poor country ; a country without 
resources, the air of which does not agree with me. 
. . . The sacrifice is accomplished ; we are on 
board, and I fear we shall never see Naples again. 
This thought overwhelms me ; it is a dreadful mis- 
fortune, a crying injustice, for which I hope God 
will give us compensation." 

The presentiment that they were leaving for ever 
added tenfold to the bitterness of their farewell. 
For the last time they went to the chapel of the 
palace to receive the benediction. ** There," says 
the Princess Amelie in her journal, '^ we made a 
short and sorrowful prayer. Mamma addressed all 
the court in words full of emotion ; there were 
nothing but tears and sobs. I felt my heart 
breaking." 

As during their former flight, they were overtaken 
by a violent tempest, owing to which it took them 
five days to get to Palermo ; and it was much worse 
than the last time, as, although the Archimede arrived 
at last in safety, many of the other ships were 
scattered and wrecked or driven on shore. The 
Queen wrote to the Empress : 



MARIA CAROLINA 377 

'^ This weather has made us lose twenty-six vessels 
of transport which the sea drove on shore at Baja, 
Naples, and Castellamare ; a frigate and corvette of 
our own, all the artillery and furniture, the entire 
luggage of nearly all our unfortunate people; the 
archives of the Foreign Office, all the correspon- 
dence, have fallen into the hands of the French." 

They were, besides, very short of money. In all 
the danger and excitement the Princess Royal, who 
was expecting her confinement in a month, was just 
as unconcerned and in as good spirits as if nothing 
was the matter ; but on this occasion the Queen 
regarded her with approval, almost with envy, 
remarking that she had a tranquil, happy disposition, 
and that if it had been her own case it would 
probably have killed her. 



CHAPTER XXIII 

At Palermo again — Discomforts and hardships — Acton — The 
Princess of the Asturias — Terrible tragedy — Suspicions of 
poison — The war in Calabria — Fra Diavolo— Agostino Mosca, 
the brigand — Conspiracies at Naples^ — An infernal machine — 
Admiral Collingwood — The Sicilian farm of the Prince Royal 
— The Princess Royal — Domestic life of the Queen and her 
children. 

AGAIN the Queen and her daughters entered 
the royal palace of Palermo and with heavy 
hearts took possession of the rooms so long disused, 
in which at first they were extremely uncomfortable. 

On their former arrival after the disastrous voyage 
they had been escorted and protected by their 
powerful English allies, had been welcomed with 
transports of loyalty in Sicily, and had brought with 
them riches and luxuries enough to transform any 
palace, however dilapidated, into an abode of 
comfort and splendour. 

Now, it was very different. A great deal of 
furniture and necessaries of all kinds had been lost 
in the wrecked ships ; they were obliged, out of what 
was left, to help their unfortunate attendants, many 
of whom had lost all or nearly all their things, and 

they were so short of money that they were forced 

378 



MARIA CAROLINA 379 

to dismiss most of their servants because they had 
not enough to pay their wages. 

So diminished was the royal household at first 
that when the two little princesses, daughters of the 
Prince Royal, were taken out to walk, their aunts, 
the Princesses Christine and Amelie, were obliged 
to stay at home, or else there would not have been 
people enough left in the apartments in the palace. 

In spite of its enchanting scenery, delicious 
climate, and general picturesqueness, the Queen 
had never liked Sicily. It was a poor country, she 
said, in which traces of poverty and misery met you 
everywhere ; the people were in rags, there was 
nothing to be bought, or if the necessaries and 
decencies of life were to be got, the prices charged 
for them were exorbitant. After Naples it seemed 
sad and gloomy. 

The season was an unusually bad one ; there was 
snow in March, and to make matters worse the 
Queen had something wrong with her eyes which 
interfered seriously with reading and writing. She 
shut herself up either in the palace at Palermo or in 
a royal villa in the country close by, and seldom 
went out except to church. The Princesses attended 
the offices of the churches, visited the convents, 
especially that of the Cappuccinelle, made friends 
with the nuns, did w^hat they could to help the poor, 
and consoled their mother. 

The only members of the royal family who were 
perfectly happy and comfortable were the Princess 
Royal, who never troubled herself about anything or 
anybody, and the King, who thought no more than 
usual about the affairs of his kingdom, seemed 



38o A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

perfectly resigned to the loss of Naples — at any rate 
for the present — and thoroughly enjoyed the country 
life and sport in Sicily, which he found entirely to 
his taste. 

He had villas on the shore for his fishing, ancient 
picturesque castles in the forest where he went for 
hunting and shooting, and his country house, Colli, 
near Palermo, where he planted, farmed, gardened, 
and amused himself to his heart's content. 

'^ Votre cher pere se porte bien et sort a chaque 
peu de beau temps ; vos pauvres soeurs font ma 
seule compagnie melant leurs larmes aux miens 
et notre douleur ensemble," wrote the Queen soon 
after their arrival. 

Her eyes appear to have recovered after a time, 
for she wrote as usual to her absent children, 
especially to the Empress of Germany, to whom she 
poured out all her anxieties, fears and troubles. 

" We have now irretrievably lost the kingdom of 
Naples, and are in great danger of losing that of 
Sicily also " ; and she went on to say that in that 
case they would have nowhere to go : Leopold might 
enter some foreign service, Franz and Isabel could 
go with their children to Spain, and Theresia must 
get her sisters, with what jewels and money were left 
to them, into some noble order (Damenstift). Very 
likely the King would go to England. As for her- 
self, she would wish to end her days in a cloister. 
And who would ^' Buonaparte " place on the throne 
of Naples ? A Spanish Infant, or ^' our son," or a 
" Buonaparte " ? 

For more than a month after their arrival in Sicily 
they had no news whatever from Naples. Not a 



MARIA CAROLINA 381 

paper, not a letter; the severity of the French pohce 
regulations allowed nothing to pass. Joseph Buona- 
parte entered Naples, where he was received with 
glacial submission and secret hatred by the people, 
but many of the friends loved, trusted, and loaded 
with kindness by the King and Queen mingled with 
the courtiers and flatterers of the usurper, amongst 
others the ever-treacherous Marchesa di San Marco. ^ 

If the King and Queen were poorer and less 
powerful than during their former residence in 
Sicily, neither were they so popular. They had lost 
prestige, their government was criticised, and their 
return to Sicily, instead of bringing trade, employ- 
ment, money, and prosperity, brought the expense 
and burden of a war ; a crowd of needy Neapolitan 
officials, courtiers, and people of all sorts, who had 
to be assisted and have posts found for them, 
still further impoverishing the island, which was 
poor enough before, and exciting the jealousy of 
the Sicilians by the favour and affection shown 
them by the King and Queen. 

And as matters in the royal households became a 
little more comfortable and decent, Ferdinando and 
Carolina also became again more extravagant and 
careless. 

The danger of an attack upon Sicily by Buona- 
parte was of course ever present. But England, 
resolved that, in her own interests still more than in 
those of the King and Queen of that country, the 
great island should not fall into the hands of France, 
prepared to defend it, and a large body of troops 
quartered there increased the expenses which, 

* Or Sammarco. 



382 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

though unavoidable, fell heavily upon the poverty- 
stricken inhabitants. 

General Craig was occupying Messina, the land- 
ing place to be defended in case Calabria should 
fall ; but the island could only be protected 
by means of a fleet, which was commanded by 
Admiral Collingwood. 

The Queen had tried to persuade him to defend 
Naples, and in the last extremity had even written 
to ask for quarter from Napoleon, who had taken 
no notice of her letter. 

Directly the King landed he wrote to Collingwood 
begging him to come with a powerful fleet to defend 
Sicily and help to reconquer Naples. Acton also, 
who had regained all his influence over Ferdinando, 
was strongly in sympathy with England. The 
Queen, however, had taken a dislike to Acton, once 
her friend, minister, and chief supporter : her dis- 
agreement with him was now so marked that Kaunitz, 
in a letter to Vienna, says : ^' La Reine repugne a se 
trouver avec Acton." ^ 

Months passed away, the Princes were in Calabria 
with Cardinal Ruffo and the army, the war going on 
with all the horrors and cruelty of that of 1798. 

The unfortunate marriage of her youngest 
daughter, the Princess of the Asturias, was an 
additional sorrow to the Queen and the Princesses. 

The Princess Amelie especially, who was devoted 
to her youngest sister, was very unhappy about 
her, and relates in her journal that one night she 
saw in a dream the figure of a man wearing the 
dark robe of a penitent, who approached and 

' Helfert. 



MARIA CAROLINA 383 

asked for alms in exchange for the prayers about 
to be offered by the confraternity for the repose 
of the soul of her sister Antoinette. 

The Princess awoke in tears and trembling 
with fear, and a few days later wrote in her 
journal : '']'ai failli tomber la face contre terre 
en lisant dans le Moniteur de Naples la mort de ma 
soeur cherie, de ma bonne amie, de ma tendre com- 
pagne, de la moitie de moi-meme, de ma chere 
et bien-aimee Toto" (June, 1806). 

They had had no letter from Antoinette herself 
since the middle of January, which caused them 
the greatest anxiety, and of which the Queen 
wrote uneasily to the Empress in April. They 
had received from time to time letters from 
Madrid saying that the Princess of the Asturias 
was ill, and the accounts of her health grew 
gradually more alarming. In May reports that 
she had been poisoned had already reached 
Palermo, and the Queen, beside herself with 
terror and suspense, did not know what to be- 
lieve. ^^ I tremble every time I open a newspaper," 
she wrote to Vienna, " lest I should see a calamity ; 
it is a sorrowful life that I lead." When she read 
the terrible news in the Moniteur she was in her 
robes of state, about to open Parliament. 

*^ It cannot be true ! " she exclaimed ; ** there 
has been no messenger to announce it from 
Madrid ; or would they have the infamy not to 
write to me ? I am beside myself. I do not 
live ; I am as in a death struggle. The cruel, 
dreadful uncertainty is worse than anything." 
. Days, even weeks, passed before the Queen 



384 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

could be certain of the truth of this catastrophe, 
of which she was finally convinced by hearing 
that the Spanish troops and ships in central 
Italy were in mourning. Even then, such was 
the atrocity of the Spanish court that no an- 
nouncement was sent to the parents of the 
Princess of the Asturias, and when six weeks 
later a Neapolitan diplomate came from Spain 
he brought only a pearl necklace for the Princess 
Royal, and a box of jewels bearing the names of 
the other members of the family, but neither letter 
nor message ; the reason given for this unheard-of 
conduct being that the King and government 
of Spain did not know by what title to address 
them.^ 

It was generally believed that the Princess of 
the Asturias was poisoned at the instigation of 
the Queen and her infamous favourite, Manuel 
Godof ; and there would seem to be more pro- 
bability of the truth of the supposition than can be 
usually attached to rumours of this kind. 

The atrocious character of the Queen and Godoi, 
and their hatred of the Prince and Princess of the 
Asturias, of the Neapolitan and Austrian families, 
made it likely enough. The Duchess d'Abrantes, who 
was at Madrid at the time, certainly believed it. She 
speaks in her ^^Memoires" of the sufferings of the 
Princess, of the despair of her husband, who never 
left her night or day, of the impossibility she herself 
found of getting permission to see her, living or 
dead ; and she goes on to say : ^^ Strange rumours 
were circulated about the illness of the Princess of 
^ Spain had acknowledged Joseph Buonaparte as King of Naples. 



MARIA CAROLINA 3«5 

the Asturias ; it was only spoken of with trembling, 
but in private conversations the terrible word 
' poison ' was pronounced even by persons most 
attached to the Queen. ... At any rate it was the 
general opinion. Since the accession of Ferdinand 
VII. I have heard that the apothecary who gave the 
poison came forward and accused himself ; but I 
was not then in Spain and cannot affirm it. All 
I can certify is the universal concurrence which 
prevailed in this opinion." ^ 

The Prince of the Asturias was, the Duchesse 
d'Abrantes says, half mad with grief and despair; 
but one might have supposed that in that case 
he would have had the common decency to 
write to the father and mother of his wife, who 
were also his uncle and aunt, to inform them 
of the death of their daughter. The Spanish royal 
family then existing were the most contemptible 
of beings. 

The war in Calabria meanwhile was carried on 
with the wildest fury and the most ferocious 
atrocities. Those writers on the radical and re- 
publican side, whether French, English, Italian, 
or German, while eager to publish, describe, and 
exaggerate the severities and cruelties of the 
punishments dealt out with such rigour to the 
rebels and Jacobins, and to ignore or excuse the 
crimes they had committed and the untold suffer- 
ing they had caused, almost invariably draw a veil 
over the at least equal horrors perpetrated by 
their own party when they in their turn got 
the upper hand. 

* " Memoires de la Duchesse d'Abrantes." 
26 



386 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

To any one who reads with attention the his- 
tory of those transactions of a hundred years 
ago, in the pages of the writers of different 
pontics and nationahties, the conclusion to be 
arrived at would appear to be that the only 
difference between the contending parties was 
that the royalists, who were supported by the mass 
of the people, were fighting for their King, their 
religion, and their native country, while their 
opponents were supporting a political party ob- 
noxious to most of their compatriots and striving 
to place their country under a foreign yoke. 

But whichever of these aims may appear to one 
the most worthy, there was no difference in the 
manner in which they were carried out. In rapacity, 
unscrupulousness, cruelty, and horrors of all kinds, 
one side was just as bad as the other. The deeds 
ordered, authorised, and connived at by the 
French commanders and their ofBcers would have 
disgraced a horde of savages. General CoUetta, 
who himself fought for the Jacobins, does not 
venture to deny the atrocities that went on ; in 
fact, he confesses that he had himself seen a man 
impaled by order of a French colonel. Old men, 
women, and children were murdered by the re- 
publicans for the crime of having given food or 
shelter to a father, a son, or a husband ; one 
woman was put to death for having saved a 
baby of a few days old belonging to a friend, 
because its father was a brigand. Towns were 
given over to fire and slaughter ; prisoners of 
war, whose only crime was fidelity to their King 
and country, were murdered in cold blood. 



MARIA CAROLINA 387 

In July, 1806, the brilliant victory of Maida, 
gained by Sir Robert Stuart and the English 
troops over General Reynier with a much 
larger force, had filled Palermo with exultation. 
With Calabria loyal and supported by such 
allies, success would yet attend their arms. But 
it was a shortlived hope. Great Britain, though 
resolved to support the King in the possession 
of Sicily, was not prepared to undertake the 
conquest of Naples ; therefore Sir Robert Stuart, 
having beaten the Jacobins, thrown garrisons 
into the chief fortresses, and done his best to 
encourage the peasantry to fight for the King, 
was obliged to return with his army to Sicily, 
and the French regained ^the ground they had 
lost.i 

It was a bitter grief to Maria Carolina, aggra- 
vated tenfold by the knowledge that Austria had 
acknowledged Joseph Buonaparte and sent an 
ambassador to Naples. 

The people, as a rule, hated the French and 
were loyal to the King, but many of the middle 
classes and of the nobles had hastened to transfer 
their allegiance to Joseph Buonaparte, and it 
was maddening to the Queen to hear of one 
after another of those who had professed friend- 
ship and loyalty and who hastened to desert them. 

The Marchesi di San Teodoro and San Gallo, 



^ " Storia d' Italia " (Botta) ; " Maria Karolina, Konigin von 
Neapel und Sicilien, u. s. vv." (Von Helfert) ; " Storia del Reame 
di Napoli " (Colletta) ; " Queen of Naples and Lord Nelson " 
(Jeaffreson) ; " Marie Caroline, Reine des Deux Siciles " (A. 
Bonnefonds), 



388 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

ambassadors of Ferdinando to France and Spain, 
became the ambassadors and ministers of Joseph 
Buonaparte ; many other nobles followed their 
example, whilst their wives vied in their eagerness 
to cringe and obtain places in the household of 
his wife, Julie Clary, daughter of a silk merchant 
at Marseille, a kind, excellent, very plain woman, 
hating court life, for which she was absolutely 
unsuited. 

Notwithstanding her failing health and many 
sorrows, the Queen threw all her energies into 
the prosecution of the war, and was no more 
particular than her opponents in the choice of 
the instruments she made use of. 

She sent Fra Diavolo with three hundred con- 
victs released from the galleys to join the army 
in Calabria, the scene of his birth and early 
career,! and she had also at her disposal other 
brigand chiefs, to whom remorse and scruples 
were unknown, ready to avenge her wrongs and 
recover the inheritance of her children. 

Agostino Mosca was one of these, and he lay 
in wait, fully armed, among the mountains of 
Gragnano, with the intention of attacking and 
killing Joseph Buonaparte, who was travelling 
that way. The plan, however, failed, and Mosca 
was captured, condemned, and executed. He 
had a gold bracelet sent him by the Queen, 
which he wore on his left arm ; and a letter from 
her in his possession, if it did not absolutely prove 
that she was aware of his intention, looked very 
like it, more especially as another letter which 
* Fra Diavolo was at last captured and executed. 



MARIA CAROLINA 389 

he had received from one of her ladies more 
openly urged him to the commission of the deed.^ 

The anxieties, dangers, and sorrows of late 
years had told upon the brave, high-spirited, 
generous, affectionate, but haughty, violent, rash, 
and imperious nature of Maria Carolina. Rest- 
less and unhappy, she clung to the hope of 
regaining Naples, and her passionate longing to 
accomplish this grew into a frenzy which shrank 
from no means by which it could be attained. 

Plots and counter-plots went on in Naples 
and Sicily. The Buonapartist police agents and 
spies lured the Bourbonists by forged letters 
and every sort of infamy to take part in pre- 
tended conspiracies, and then betrayed them to 
imprisonment and execution. Death, prison, or 
confiscation was the lot of all who refused to 
acknowledge the usurper at Naples, and plots 
against his life and those of the most cruel and 
oppressive of his satellites were rife at Palermo. 

Early in 1807 the palace of Serracapriola, which 
was now inhabited by Salicetti, Minister of Police, a 
bloodstained miscreant, steeped in the worst crimes 
and cruelties of the Jacobins at Paris and very 
nearly executed in his own country, was partly 
blown up by an infernal machine. He, however, 
escaped without any mortal injuries. Some of the 
conspirators fled to Sicily and elsewhere, some 
were taken and executed, among them the son 
of Viscardi, an old man of seventy-six, who saved 
his life by betraying his companions, his own son 
amongst them. 

* Colletta, Jeaffreson, &c. 



390 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

Various plots were at the same time discovered, 
and correspondences with the Queen of Sicily. The 
plot against Salicetti had been organised at Palermo 
by certain persons patronised by the Prince of 
Canosa ; whether he actually knew what was in- 
tended, or how far the Queen was cognisant of the 
various plots and conspiracies carried on by her 
party, it is impossible to say ; but even if these 
schemes, as foolish as they were wicked, had suc- 
ceeded, they could have done no good. The death 
of the weak, incapable, but by no means evilly- 
disposed Joseph Buonaparte could have been of 
no possible use to the Bourbon cause as long as 
Napoleon was able to place another of his puppets 
on the throne of Naples : plenty of ministers equally 
cruel and equally capable were ready to replace 
Salicetti ; the only person it would have been the 
least use to kill was Napoleon himself, who, how- 
ever, always, by the vigilance of his police spies or 
by a lucky accident, escaped the various attempts 
projected or made upon his life. 

" I suppose you have heard from General Fox," 
wrote Collingwoodto General Sir Henry Dalrymple, 
'' that the court of Sicily is exceedingly impatient 
to undertake the conquest of Naples. The general, 
who is wary, and looks at every circumstance with 
the eye of an experienced soldier, does not approve 
it, and will not move the troops ; in consequence of 
which . . . they are to conquer Naples . . . with- 
out our help." 

The Queen's untiring energy and over-sanguine 
rashness pressed on the policy opposed by Acton, 
the King, and the Prince Royal, when he returned 
to Sicily. 



MARIA CAROLINA 391 

A short time previously Kaunitz wrote : 
" Le credit de la Reine remporte presqne tous les 
jours quelques petites victoires sur celui du General 
Acton. Cette Princesse combat la dissimulation 
de ce vieux Politique avec toutes les armes que 
Son esprit et la droiture de Ses intentions Lui 
donnent." 

Collingwood, on the other hand, says : 
"The Queen's party, I understand, now prevails, 
many of whom are French ; and Sir John Acton, 
who was considered as the Minister who preserved 
the King from being led away by the caprices of 
the Queen and her adherents, and advised him 
for the true interests of his country, is dismissed 
from the Ministry." 

Thus the exiled court was torn with disputes and 
hampered with debts and want of money. Colling- 
wood declared that this was a great deal owing to 
mismanagement, and that if Mount Etna were made 
of gold they would still be poor. The English 
Government allowed them ;£30o,ooo a year, which 
was afterwards increased to ;f400,ooo, to maintain 
the court and army ; besides which, in spite of the 
destitution and hardships of their first arrival, a 
large amount of specie had been safely transported 
from Naples to Sicily. 

But besides the Queen's incapacity for any 
methodical or economical management, she spent 
immense sums on her spies, plots, and secret ser- 
vice ; the expenses of the war were enormous, and 
so were the sums required to help and often to 
support the numbers of loyal refugees who had 
ruined themselves to follow them to Sicily, and 



392 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

whom the Queen — always generous and true to 
her friends — would not forsake. As usual, she 
was sometimes imposed upon, but most of them 
were honest and deserving persons, upon whom 
she spent far more than upon herself. 

The Princes soon returned from Calabria, where 
they were of no use ; and the Prince Royal, Duke 
of Calabria, established himself and his family in a 
farm, where he lived contentedly, amusing himself 
with sport and farming. Both he and his father 
sold butter and game to any one who wanted it, 
receiving the money themselves. 

"Franz is a thoroughly good man," says the 
Queen to the Empress ; " he bears with resigna- 
tion what is laid upon us. . . . Isabel spends eight 
or ten hours a day on horseback, nurses her baby 
in the day when she is in the humour to do so, but 
never at night ; she lets it cry for ten hours, but it 
goes on all right. Franz alone looks after the chil- 
dren, for his wife does not love them, but often says 
she hates children. Is not that rather unnatural 
in a mother ? . . . Franz has a little house near 
Palermo. ... I am in the town, where it is very 
hot. Your good sisters are my only companions ; 
they look after me, stay by my side, and try to com- 
fort me in all the trouble which weighs upon me. 
God bless and reward them ! . . . Leopold is as tall 
as I am ; he has a happy nature : he is very good 
and studies steadily. . . . He is now almost a man. 
He is quick, impetuous, but without violence or 
self-will ; he has an excellent heart. 

"In this way we live all together ; we generally 
walk or drive in the evenings, and sit round a table 



MARIA CAROLINA 393 

to read, work, or write. We have one single theatre, 
but do not care to go there ; I have only been twice 
in the last three months. 

*^ The environs of the city are pretty. One day 
we went for a walk which very much reminded me 
of the road to Maria Zell. I thought you would 
have liked it." 

The monotony of this simple life was now and 
then broken by a visit from the King in the intervals 
of wild boar hunting and tunny fishing, or when 
the Queen insisted on his coming for some matter 
of business. 

The fetes de famille were always kept, either 
amongst themselves or now and then in society ; 
as, for instance, on the Queen's birthday, August 
13, 1806, a grand fete was given by the Prince of 
Trabbia in the garden of his palace, which amused 
the young Prince of Salerno and his sisters, but 
which the Queen could not enjoy, filled as she 
was with anxiety and care. 

The Prince of Salerno was extremely fond of his 
sisters, and especially devoted to Amelie ; these 
three and their mother clung all the closer together 
in their fallen fortunes. The King, though on 
friendly terms with them, still led his usual half 
wild life by the sea or in the woods, with a mistress 
and his sport and farming to amuse him and fill up 
his life. As long as he could do this he was per- 
fectly happy, always said he would some day recover 
Naples, and meanwhile lived contentedly, his island 
kingdom protected by the English troops and ships. 

His eldest son and daughter-in-law followed his 
example, and it was a pity that a little of their 



394 ^ SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

coolness and philosophy could not have been 
shared by the Queen, who, with far greater talents 
and superior qualities, was much more unhappy. 
But this is usually the case ; the people who go 
through life most happily and comfortably are 
generally those to whom has not been given the 
capacity fully and acutely to enjoy, suffer, love, 
and hate. Could they decide upon their own fate 
and gifts, few young people would choose these 
negative qualifications ; but after half a century's 
experience of life they might possibly change their 
opinion. 



CHAPTER XXIV 

The Princess Christine and the Duke of Genoa — Their marriage — 
Death of the Empress of Germany — Despair of the Queen 
— Sicily threatened — The Queen's letters — The son of Egalite 
— The love - affairs of Princess Amelie — The King refuses 
consent — The Princess threatens to take the veil — Her mar- 
riage to the Duke of Orleans. 

CARLO FELICE, Duke of Genoa, brother of 
the King of Sardinia, had long been sincerely 
attached to the Princess Christine, who returned his 
affection, but was a gentle, submissive sort of char- 
acter, supposed to have no will but that of her 
parents ; which circumstance is evidently recorded 
as a compliment by the historian who mentions it. 
Perhaps the Duke of Genoa may not have regarded 
it with such satisfaction, but might have preferred 
that she should have shown a little more of the 
spirit and resolution which her aunt, the Arch- 
duchess Christine, displayed in her love for Albrecht 
of Saxe-Teschen. 

Carlo Felice had not been altogether refused by 
the King and Queen when they were at Naples, but 
only told that he was not ''at present " a sufficiently 
good parti for the Princess. But as years passed 
his fortunes improved ; he was heir-presumptive to 
the throne of Sardinia, and was still as devoted 

395 



396 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

as ever to the Princess^ whose position was less de- 
sirable and more precarious in Sicily than at Naples. 

He now renewed his offer, and obtained the 
consent of the King and Queen to the marriage, 
which was celebrated at Palermo in the cathedral 
with all due ceremonial and rejoicings that lasted 
three days, during which a hundred and ten poor 
girls were married, also at the cathedral, their 
dresses and dowries being given them by the 
Queen. They were afterwards entertained at a 
dinner in the palace, at which the royal family 
appeared. The festivities concluded with a drive 
round the city in carriages lent by the court. 

But scarcely were they over when the Queen 
received what was perhaps the heaviest blow and 
deepest sorrow of her life. The Empress Theresia 
died in consequence of a confinement from which 
she had not fully recovered. 

The Queen was broken-hearted, for this, her 
favourite daughter, had always been her stay and 
pride ; more than all the rest she was bound up 
with her beloved Austria and the ties and affections 
of her childhood and of her own race ; much older 
than her remaining daughters, she had for many 
years been her friend and confidant, and to her 
powerful protection she looked as a refuge for 
herself and her remaining children. 

Amelie and Leopold removed with her to a house 
in the country with a garden, in which they spent 
their days, doing all they could to console her. 
Christine and her husband, who were living near, 
came every day to dine with them, and their con- 
stant affection helped her to bear her sorrow. 



MARIA CAROLINA 397 

"God has chosen to take from me her upon 
whom I depended to take my place with my dear 
children," she wrote to the Emperor. " His holy 
will be done ; but I count with confidence upon 
your goodness and friendship after my death to 
give your kindness and protection to my dear 
children." She goes on to beg for a prayer-book, 
a crucifix, anything that Theresia had used during 
the last days of her illness. 

But either the "kindness" or "protection" of the 
Emperor Franz was a broken reed to lean upon. 
He was another of those persons of shallow feeling 
and obtuse nature upon whom nothing could make 
a deep impression. As long as the Empress lived 
he had been happy with her and fond of her ; when 
she was dead he soon forget her, and before many 
months the news of his engagement to the young 
and beautiful Ludovica of Modena was a fresh 
wound to the Queen, who was indignant that her 
Theresia should be so soon forgotten. 

Her letters to the Emperor no longer begin " My 
dear son and nephew," or " My very dear Son." 

Once she writes : " My very dear Son, — Pardon 
me if for the last time I make use of a name which 
was so dear to my heart." In future her letters 
began " Your Majesty," and ended " Your much 
attached aunt and servant," instead of " Mother " or 
" Mother-in-law." With apologies she begged for 
his kindness and care for her grandchildren, hinting 
that his young wife would have children of her own 
and would not trouble herself about the first family. 
However, these fears were unfounded, as Ludovica 
never had any children. 



398 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

The Duke and Duchess of Genoa left Palermo 
at the end of September, 1807, to live at the court 
of Sardinia. 

The Princess Amelie, thus separated from the last 
remaining of her sisters, had felt an unconquerable 
depression and dread of being left with only Isabel, 
who was no use as a companion. 

But she used afterwards to say that she found so 
much consolation in the affection and tenderness of 
her mother, now that they were thrown entirely 
upon each other for comfort and sympathy, that 
the months they passed together at the Queen's 
country house, Tamastra, were amongst her dearest 
recollections. 

And now also began a time of anxiety and excite- 
ment which left no leisure for brooding upon past 
troubles. 

An attack upon Sicily was expected, as Joseph 
Buonaparte, having successfully defeated the King's 
armies in Calabria, was now preparing an expedition 
for the conquest of the island kingdom, which was, 
in consequence, a scene of commotion and warlike 
activity. 

Reinforcements were sent from Malta to Sir John 
Stuart, who lay encamped at Melazzo ; troops were 
raised as fast as possible ; everywhere they were 
being armed and drilled. The Prince of Salerno 
was placed in command of the volunteers, amongst 
whom were many strangers who had come over to 
offer their services. Amongst these the Princess 
Amelie's attention was attracted to a young Hun- 
garian noble, the Baron de Geramb, whose strange 
and picturesque costume made him conspicuous 



MARIA CAROLINA 399 

amongst his comrades. Twenty years afterwards 
she saw him again in France, where he was pro- 
ciireiir-general of the order of La Trappe, and had 
changed his gay, fantastic dress for the austere 
woollen robe of the Trappists. 

The defence of the coast at Palermo was chiefly 
directed by the Marquis de St. -Clair, a French 
emigre who had long been in the service of the 
King. The Queen had placed him at the head of 
the household of the Prince of Salerno at Naples, 
appointed him his governor, and show^ed him con- 
siderable favour and friendship ; which was very 
natural, as, besides being an emigriy he was a 
capable and excellent man and a faithful friend. 

General Colletta, who was not likely to be pre- 
judiced in his favour, says of him : 

" Lieutenant-General St. Clair, a Frenchman, who 
had been an emigre in his boyhood, flying from the 
civil commotions in his country. He had served in 
the Neapolitan armies, was a favourite at court, and 
beloved by Queen Carolina of Austria, to whom he 
was a prudent friend in prosperity and constant in 
adversity. He was humane, honest, and benevolent, 
and died beloved and lamented." ^ 

But it would have been impossible for Maria 
Carolina, unless she had led the life of a nun in 
a convent, to escape from the calumnies invented 
and circulated by her enemies, from revenge, from 
political reasons, or from both reasons ; and one of 
the most preposterous accusations brought against 
her was that of a liaison with M. de St.-Clair. 

That there was not the slightest shadow of proof 
* " Storia del Reame di Napoli " (Colletta). 



400 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

of anything of the kind is needless to say. There 
never was any sort of proof of any love intrigue 
whatever with any one of the persons with whom 
the Queen's name was so slanderously connected ; 
but as the government of the kingdoms was in her 
hands, it was impossible that she should not be 
continually associated with ministers, state officials, 
officers in the army and navy, foreign envoys, &c., 
and what was easier for those who were anxious to 
injure her than to say, and to make other people 
believe, that they were her lovers ? 

Of her enormous family of children, none were 
ever supposed to have belonged to any one but the 
King ; but that was because they were all so like 
him that it would have been no use saying to the 
contrary. The Bourbon nose, though it may not 
have been ornamental, may in this case have been 
useful. 

The only reasons advanced in support of the 
accusations of immorality against the Queen were, 
in the first place, that she did not love her husband, 
and, in the second, that she was fond of pleasure 
and admiration. 

But it is by no means true that Maria Carolina 
did not care for her husband. That she had not 
for Ferdinando the romantic love of her sister 
Christine for Albrecht von Saxe-Teschen is unques- 
tionable ; and considering that Ferdinando, how- 
ever much he was in love with her in his way, was 
habitually unfaithful to her, it would not have been 
possible. But for all that, and in spite of his infi- 
delity, to which she soon became resigned, she 
certainly did regard him with affection and con- 



MARIA CAROLINA 401 

sideration. There is apparently only one occasion 
on which she speaks of a quarrel between them, 
and that was about Lady Hamilton. In her other 
letters she writes of him with nothing but affection 
and consideration. If he was ill, she nursed him 
with care and anxiety ; as far as she could she 
shared in his pursuits and amusements ; the domestic 
life of the royal family was spoken of with admira- 
tion by persons of all nations by whom they were 
visited. 

As to the second reason, if because women are 
fond of amusement and admiration they are to be 
supposed to be guilty of immorality and crime, 
Heaven help them ! 

To the suggestion of a radical writer who has 
heard that there were letters and journals of an 
objectionable kind of Queen Maria Carolina's in 
the archives of Naples, which were suppressed out 
of regard to the feelings of the Austrian royal 
family, one can only say that an assertion which 
can neither be proved nor disproved is not worthy 
of being considered evidence. But considering 
that Maria Carolina had a perfect mania for corre- 
spondence, and that an immense amount of letters 
to and from her still exist, in not one of which 
there can be found, according to the expression of 
one of her bitterest enemies, a Hne that could not 
be read to a young girl, but all of which, on the 
contrary, express the most religious, domestic, and 
moral sentiments, is it credible that those, and those 
only, which happened to be in the archives of 
Naples should be absolutely and in all respects 
the opposite ? 

27 



402 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

If the Queen had been given to writing impro- 
prieties they would be found in some of her numer- 
ous letters, and would certainly have been eagerly 
produced and quoted by her enemies. 

The slanderous gossip about Acton and Guarini, 
when the Queen was a young woman in the height 
of her beauty, however unjust, was not surprising. 
But the accusations brought against her relations 
with St.-Clair and with Captain Afflitto, an officer 
who took the place of the former during a short 
absence, can only be called monstrous, when one 
considers that she was then nearly sixty years old, 
broken in health and spirits, bowed down with grief 
for the loss of her children, especially suffering from 
the fearful shocks caused by the death of the Princess 
of the Asturias and the Empress of Germany, tor- 
mented with the wearing pain of neuralgia, injured 
by the strong doses of opium she took to relieve it, 
fretting after the loss of Naples, her whole mind and 
thoughts concentrated upon the means of regaining 
it and the necessity of protecting Sicily and her 
remaining children. She had also now lost all trace 
of beauty, and appeared even older than her age. 
Her hair was perfectly white, her face lined and 
worn with care, anxiety, and ill-health, her strength 
exhausted by the constant strain of her life. 

The immediate danger of a French invasion of 
Sicily passed away in an unexpected manner. The 
subservience of the Spanish court to France had 
not availed to preserve the country from the ever- 
increasing ambition of Napoleon, who was now 
resolved to place his brother Joseph on the throne 
of Spain, replacing him at Naples by Murat, the 



MARIA CAROLINA 403 

husband of his youngest sister, Caroline. His atten- 
tion therefore being directed to the conquest of 
Spain, Sicily was for the present left alone. 

The only daughter for whom the Queen still had 
to provide was the Princess Amelie, and in the 
following year (1808) a possible and suitable hus- 
band for her appeared in the person of Louis 
Philippe, Due d'Orleans, who came with some 
Sardinian officers to Sicily. 

In her journal the Princess thus records the first 
day of their meeting : 

'^ 22nd June. — Mamma sent for Isabel and me, 
and presented the Duke of Orleans to us. He is 
of the ordinary height, rather inclined to be stout, 
in appearance neither handsome nor ugly. He has 
the features of the house of Bourbon, and is very 
polite and well-educated." 

It was not an enthusiastic description, but the 
Sicilian royal family were rather surprised and 
pleased to find him so unobjectionable, having 
naturally the strongest prejudice against him. 

The Queen especially had the greatest horror of 
meeting him, and afterwards owned to him that the 
very sound of his name made her shudder. It was 
no wonder, for he was the son of the regicide and 
traitor to his own blood, the bitter and cruel enemy 
of Marie Antoinette, the infamous ^' Egalite." 

But years had passed since Egalite had met the 
reward of his crimes upon the scaffold to which he 
had helped to bring his victims; his son had always 
regarded with horror the crimes by which his father 
had disgraced the name of Orleans, and in his long 
years of exile had abjured the irreligious and re- 



404 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

publican opinions instilled into his mind in early 
youth. He was most anxious to be reinstated and 
forgiven by hjs relations and connections, and to 
blot out the remembrance of Egalite and the 
Jacobins, which still clung to and separated him 
from the princes of every royal house. 

For this purpose nothing could be more effectual 
than to marry a daughter of the King and Queen 
of Naples, the bitterest enemies of the Jacobins, the 
most ardent champions of the ancien regime. The 
Princess Amelie, besides being Bourbon, Habsburg, 
and the niece of Marie Antoinette, was very sympa- 
thetic to him ; the King and Queen approved ; all 
went smoothly. 

After a few weeks came an interruption to the 
progress of his love affairs. 

The King of Spain had abdicated, and with his 
son been conveyed by Napoleon to France. The 
people, rising in insurrection against the French, 
and having now no princes of their own to lead 
them, the King of Naples, as nearest of kin, declared 
himself Regent of Spain, and sent his son — the 
Prince of Salerno — to Cadiz to represent him. 

The Duke of Orleans offered to accompany and 
look after Leopold, who was only eighteen, and not 
in the least fitted to conduct so difficult and doubtful 
an enterprise. 

The King and Queen gladly accepted the pro- 
posal, and before they went on board the Thiinderery 
which was to take them to Spain, the Duke of 
Orleans declared his love to the Princess Amelie, 
who accepted it, and commended her brother to 
his care. 




Louis PHiLiFPh, Dlc dOrleans, 

King of France. 

After the painting by Gerard. 



face p. 404. 



MARIA CAROLINA 405 

The project of the regency was not consented 
to by the British Government, and the expedition 
came to nothing. The Duke of Orleans went to 
England to try to influence the ministers in its 
favour, but without success. In April, 1809, he 
returned to Sicily, and found that the King had 
been prejudiced against him by some of the emigres 
at the court of Palermo, and would not allow the 
marriage. 

After some difficulty his objections were so far 
overcome that the Duke of Orleans went to find 
his mother and obtain her consent, and returned 
by Malta, bringing with him his sister, Mdlle. 
d'Orleans, the favourite pupil of the celebrated 
Mme. de Genlis. The Princess Amelie found 
in Adelaide d'Orleans a sister in place of those she 
had lost — a great additional happiness after the many 
sorrows of her life. 

But still the King tried to put off the marriage, 
pretending that the treasury was too exhausted to 
allow of the immediate payment of the dowry of 
the Princess. 

The Duke of Orleans, however, declared that he 
would not claim it, and the Princess Amelie, who 
had not the absolute submissiveness of her sister 
Christine, declared that if the marriage were pre- 
vented she would take the veil in the Capucin 
convent. 

When the King heard this he sent for the Princess, 
and putting his arms round her, asked her with 
anxious affection whether she really wished so much 
for this marriage. On hearing that she had set her 
heart upon it, he withdrew his opposition, and in 



4o6 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

October the Duchess of Orleans, her future mother- 
in-law, arrived at Palermo. 

The marriage was celebrated on the 25th of 
November in the room of the King, who had fallen 
down the staircase of the palace and hurt his leg. 
The wedding-party then descended to the chapel 
of the palace for the Te Deum and benediction, after 
which the Duke and Duchess of Orleans showed 
themselves to the crowds assembled in their honour. 

The King gave them a large and ancient villa 
named Santa Teresa, which was afterwards known 
as the Palazzo d'Orleans, where, when it was ready 
for them, they took up their abode, and where in 
the following year their son, the Due de Chartres, 
was born. 

The following letters of the Queen of Naples were written 
about this time. They are in the collection of MSS. of Mr. A. 
F. Broadley: 

" Recevez ma chere Barone dans cette lettre ce que je ne puis 
jamais assez bien exprimer de vive ce que sont mes Sentimens bien 
sinceres de Recconoissance pour le temps que vous avez passe avec 
nous et le plaisir avec lequel je vous reverrois toujours je vous sou- 
haite de cceur un heureux et propre voyage, tant de mere que de 
Terre, et que vous retrouviez vos Enfans couvert de joie et humeur, 
pour que vous ne nous oubliez, point je vous prie d'accepter nos 
portraits a nous tous avec les assurances de nos Coeurs Recconois- 
sants une de nous n'est plus dans ce Monde, mais elle priera Dieu 
pour vous. 

Ne m'oubliez point mes voeux et ma pensee vous accompagnera 
dans ma si chere et bien aime patrie rapellez moi au Souvenir de 
ceux qui veulent encore penser a qui leur est si attachee. L'honeur 
et gloire dont le Couvrent mes Braves et chers Compatriotes me 
Comble de Consolation dites leur bien que unique fille de L'imortelle 
Marie Therese je partage leurs Sentimens et Gloire ne m'oubliez 
point et croyez moi jusqu'au tombeau votre recconoissante 

" Charlotte." 

"Je profite de I'occasion du depart de ma bonne amie la 
Duchesse de Vienne pour m'informer avec un bien vif et sincere 



( 



MARIA CAROLINA 407 

interet de votre Sante, comment vous vous Sentez, et coment vous 
etes content, depuis votre depart de notre triste file, je n'ai 
re^us, qu'une seule fois de vos nouvelles, et en ai ete penetres 
de la plus profonde Recconoissance. L'aimable Duchesse si 
elle arrivera bien portante, et come je fais bien des voeux pour 
elle vous pourra doner de mes nouvelles, ma sante est entierement 
detruite, et je n'ai jamais encore ete si afligee que je le suis actuelle- 
ment : les dernieres inconcevables vilanies de ma ci Devant 
famille et de qui m'appartiens de si pres m'a tellement afectee 
que je ne puis m'en remettre j'ai au moins la satisfaction que 
malgre les liens si etroits qui nous unissent on rend assez de justice 
a ma fa^on de penser, pour n'avoir pas ose m'en ecrire un mot ; et 
mes dernieres lettres D'Allemagne sont du 16 Janvier, ainsi fine sais 
toutes ces infamies, et basses, que par les Gazettes ; elles m'ont 
tellement afectee que j'en suis toute malade, la bonne Duchesse 
vous pourra parler de ma Sante, qui est tres mal reduite de notre 
position, qui est infiniment triste et de tout ce qui me concerne, Le 
Roi a ete huit mois enferme, s'etant fait male a un Genoux, actuelle- 
ment il Comence a marelier, mais avec paine. jugez combien cella 
I'a ennuye. Toute ma famille a ete incomode ; ma belle fille est 
accouchee d'un fils tres a propos, le jour de la naissance du Roi ; 
Get Evenement, qui d'autre fois aurait anime L'Entousiasme pub- 
lique, etant L'heriteur du Throne n'a produit aucun effet. Ma fille 
Amelie est mariee avec le Due D'Orleans ; est tres Gontente nous 
vivons en famille tres tristement, attendant encore quel sera notre 
triste Sort ; vous sentez, que a qui reflechit, conait tout cella ne fait 
pas bon Sang, mais tel est notre triste sort, j'ai le malheur d'etre 
meconus de nos amis, persecute de nos feroces enemis, et extreme- 
ment malheureuses ; ne m'oubliez pas entierement un souvenir d'un 
homme de merite, et de Bien, comme vous. Gonsole quand on est 
aussi malheureux, come je le suis. adieu ; donez moi de vos nou- 
velles quand vous le pouvez, sans vous compromettre ; defendez 
moi vous ne f erez, que rendre justice a une qui prise plus I'honeur que 
la vie, et qui ne vacillera jamais dans Ses principes, Je suis mere 
de famille, j'ai les droits de mon mari et Enfans a Soutenir, et c'est 
un devoir sacree pour moi, mais quand on pense ainsi ou peut 
compter sur de pareils caracteres, qui ne se deshonoreront jamais, 
et on doit leur rendre justice voila ce que j'ose dire a un ami comme 
vous. Adieu, ne m'oubliez point et envoyez moi de loin, ou de pres 
heureuse ou malheureuse, votre sincere Recconoissante 

" Gharlotte." 
*' le 24 Avril, 1810. 

"Je vous prie de faire bien mes Gomplimens et me rapeller au 
Souvenir de la bonne Md. Drummond et de Lapinet de mon bien 
recconoissant souvenir." 



CHAPTER XXV 

" My grandmother the Queen of Sicily" — Obstinacy of Maria Carolina 
— The Duke and Duchess of Orleans — Illness of the Queen — 
Troubles and difficulties — Lord William Bentinck — Renewed 
troubles — The Queen leaves Palermo — The King agrees to the 
regency of the Prince Royal and retires to the country — A last 
attempt — Return of the King — Failure — Farewell to Sicily. 

THE marriage of the Queen's eldest grand- 
daughter, the Archduchess Marie Louise of 
Austria, with her arch-enemy Napoleon, in 1810, 
whatever might be the shock it was likely to cause 
the Queen, was in fact an advantage to her. 

The Emperor Napoleon, in spite of the exalted 
position to which he had raised himself and the vast 
power and riches he had won by his sword and his 
genius, had never been satisfied until he aUied 
himself with those ancient families amongst whose 
members he had found so many of his puppets and 
victims. 

Transported with delight that his children would 
now be the grandchildren, nephews, nieces, and 
cousins of most of the sovereigns and royalties in 
Europe, and that he himself could now talk, as he 
loved to do, of his *^poor uncle, Louis XVL," and 
his ^^ aunt, the Queen, Marie Antoinette," he was 

enchanted with the young Archduchess to whom he 

408 



MARIA CAROLINA 409 

owed this crowning satisfaction, and eager to please 
and indulge her. And when she begged him not to 
allow her grandmother to be any further molested, 
his inclination to grant a request which was in- 
spired, not by political reasons, for which she cared 
nothing, but by family affection, may not have 
been uninfluenced by the fact that his arch-enemy 
was now his *^ grandmother, the Queen of Sicily." ^ 
At any rate he would not allow Murat to invade 
that island, much to his displeasure. 

It is a melancholy reflection that if only the 
Queen would have taken care of her health, lived 
quietly at Palermo for a very few years longer, and 
so far yielded to the necessities of the circumstances 
and the requirements of the times in which she lived 
as to agree to the constitution desired by the 
Sicilians, she would have regained all she had lost 
and returned in triumph to Naples. But she would 
do nothing of the kind. The very name of a con- 
stitution was abhorrent to her ; the slightest and 
most reasonable concession to liberal ideas was a 
weakness and a danger, if not a disgrace. 

The detestation and contempt she had always felt 
for the feebleness and vacillation of Louis XVI. had 
led her into the opposite extreme ; the reasonable 
reforms called for by the Sicilians and supported 
by the English, who had been her constant friends 
and protectors, were as obnoxious and impossible 



* In a letter to Savary, July 2, 1813, Napoleon : " I told you to 
have everything published in the Moniteiir which appeared in the 
English papers about their proceedings in Sicily . . . amongst 
others of their violence against Queen Caroline, whom they have 
sent to Constantinople " (Helfert). 



410 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

to her as if they had been the frantic demands 
of the Jacobins. 

The ancient laws of Sicily gave her parliament 
control over the taxes, and when that body 
assembled, the Princes di Cassera and Belmonte- 
Vintimiglia were deputed to represent to the 
sovereigns two perfectly legitimate grievances ; one 
being that all the important posts in Sicily were 
bestowed upon Neapolitans, to the great hardship 
and discontent of the natives of the island, the 
other that the taxes laid upon them were so heavy 
and so exorbitant that they were impossible to be 
borne by so poor a country. 

The Queen not only turned a deaf ear to these 
remonstrances, but, indignant at meeting with 
opposition, resolved to get the money without the 
assistance of parliament, and in order to do so 
levied a tax of one per cent, upon all sales, and put 
a number of ecclesiastical benefices into the lottery; 
and when the barons protested against these illegal 
measures, arrested the Prince of Belmonte and four 
other leaders of the party of the barons. 

The Duke of Orleans, to her great indignation, 
took the side of the barons ; and the Duchess of 
Orleans, in a painful position between her mother 
and her husband, agreeing with the latter and 
deploring the despotic government and violence of 
the former, tried to mediate between them, at first 
with so little success that it was rumoured that the 
Duke was to be arrested also. 

Prince Belmonte was a deadly enemy of the 
Prime Minister, Medici, and a great friend of the 
Duke of Orleans, who, when this quarrel arose, was 



MARIA CAROLINA 411 

commanded by the King to discontinue any inter- 
course with him. Lord Amherst, the English 
Ambassador, expostulated with the Queen, pointing 
out the impossibility that England could permit a 
country protected by their arms and supported by 
their money to be plunged into the disorders of a 
revolution. 

Self-willed and unable to comprehend the useless- 
ness of resistance, the impossibility of her plans, and 
the folly of quarrelling with her sole and powerful 
allies, Maria Carolina fell into a frenzy of rage and 
despair which lasted for several days, during which 
she either gave vent to denunciations and wild 
lamentations, or, exhausted by the violence of her 
emotions, sank into an apathetic gloom and misery 
which terrified everyone, especially her daughter, 
the Duchess of Orleans. Their alarm was necessarily 
heightened by the ever-increasing effect of the opium 
which she had for some time taken to relieve 
neuralgia, and in July, 1811, the news spread through 
Palermo that the Queen was lying between life and 
death, prostrated by a fit of apoplexy. After being 
unconscious for twenty-four hours she slowly re- 
covered, and if she had been a woman in any other 
rank she would henceforth have been considered, if 
not an invalid, a person whose health was the first 
consideration, and for whom rest, quiet, and a 
peaceful life, with freedom from anxiety and care, 
were of the first necessity. Maria Carolina, on the 
contrary, was no sooner in some measure restored 
to health than she resumed her usual occupations, 
and plunged again into the vortex of strife, turmoil, 
and confusion of Sicilian affairs. 



412 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

The visit of her daughter Christine, who, with her 
husband, the Duke of Genoa, came to Palermo to 
see her, was one of the few peaceful enjoyments left 
to her. 

Even amongst her children the differences of 
opinion, although they did not destroy their 
affection, disturbed its harmony and peace. Chris- 
tine was, of course, not concerned in the political 
affairs of her parents' kingdom, but the Prince 
Royal and the Duke of Orleans sided with the 
barons and the English. Amelie agreed with them, 
though she tried not to oppose her parents more 
than she could help. Leopold entirely took the 
part of his father and mother. 

The expense of the army of spies maintained by 
the Queen was enormous ; her incapacity for 
economy, and, it must also be said, her charity 
and generosity, were just the same as ever. 

At her wits' end to find money, she entered into 
a secret arrangement with a certain Castroni, who 
was her chief commissioner for spies, and owner of 
a fleet of thirty privateers, with which he harassed 
the mercantile marine of France, of Murat, and of 
the other foes of the King and Queen of Sicily, that 
part of the profits of every prize taken should be 
received by herself. 

It happened, however, that, amongst others, one 
of these privateers seized an English ship, and 
made considerable difficulties when required to 
give her up. It was declared not to be the first 
time this had happened. There was a great 
commotion ; the Queen's interest in the enterprise 
was discovered, and a quarrel between her and 



MARIA CAROLINA 413 

Lord Amherst was followed by his recall to 
England. 

It was asserted that Maria Carolina, in her anger 
and desperation, having not only lost all hope of re- 
conquering Naples by the aid of the English but 
found that they were bent on interfering in the 
government of Sicily itself, began a secret corre- 
spondence with the Emperor Napoleon, offering to 
help him to gain possession of Sicily if he could 
reinstate her husband at Naples. ^ 

Affairs in Sicily went from bad to worse. An- 
other parliament had been summoned, and was 
equally resolved to refuse the supplies demanded. 
The Queen, on the other hand, was equally de- 
termined to have her own way ; the King was, in 
all political matters, guided by her. The troops 
were clamouring for their arrears and on the brink 
of mutiny, for there was no money to pay them. 

In this state was Sicily found by Lord Valentia, 
who was sent out from England to report on the 
condition of affairs. The necessity for immediate 
reform was evident, and so were the obstinate folly 
of the Queen and the impracticability of her plans, 
but he believed and repeated as facts all the atro- 
cious lies and cruel slanders first invented and 
circulated against her for their own purposes by the 
Jacobins, then by Napoleon, and now by the party 
of the barons, who also saw in her their arch-enemy, 
and strove to blacken her character and enlist the 
sympathy of the English against her. 

They succeeded perfectly, and some of the most 

^ This, however, was disbelieved by Lord William Bentinck, and 
denied absolutely by the Queen herself. 



414 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

shocking and absurd statements published against 
her were beheved on his authority, of which the 
most outrageous were not only morally but physi- 
cally impossible in a woman bowed down with 
sorrow, broken in health, and still suffering from 
the effects of paralysis, of the terrible neuralgic 
pain, and of the opium she took daily to miti- 
gate it. 

She was, in fact, a prematurely old and shattered 
woman, who, from the causes just mentioned, was 
often scarcely responsible for her actions, especially 
for the bursts of ungovernable fury which were the 
unavoidable consequences ; but that such a person 
should be the object of a love intrigue would be a 
supposition too ridiculous to be entertained, even 
supposing there had been any proof of immorality 
in her earlier life. 

Temperate as she had ever been in food, taking 
scarcely any wine, but daily doses of opium, Maria 
Carolina, whose health had been failing for the last 
five years, was now pale, emaciated, and melan- 
choly, only roused by the proud, restless, in- 
domitable spirit which neither sorrow nor illness 
could subdue, and which still defied the barons and 
held the King under her sway. 

When it was known that Lord William Bentinck 
was appointed English Ambassador to Naples, the 
Queen, alarmed at what she had heard of his 
despotic character and unbending resolution, 
exclaimed in consternation : 

" They are sending us a viceroy, not an ambassa- 
dor 1 " to which Ferdinando replied with a laugh : 
^* What difference does it make to me and my 



MARIA CAROLINA 415 

subjects ? We shall only have a master instead of 
a mistress to manage us." 

Of Ferdinando, in spite of his cruelties at Naples, 
the open, outrageous immorality and selfishness of 
his life, and his utter neglect of his government, his 
people, and in fact of everything but his amuse- 
ments, Lord Valentia and others speak with liking 
and praise. His faults were laid upon the Queen, 
the good she did was attributed to him — such is 
human justice. 

Respecting the new English ambassador the 
worst misgivings of the Queen were realised. He 
went out to Colli to see the King, who was there, as 
usual, perfectly happy with his mistress, his farm, 
and his sport, and with whom he got on very well. 

He had an interview with the Queen, in which he 
informed her that he had been sent out to support 
the cause of the barons and demand the immediate 
release of those imprisoned and the repeal of the 
illegal edicts levying taxes. 

It is not surprising that the Queen asked, with 
astonished indignation, what he meant by speaking 
as if he were King of Sicily. 

Lord William Bentinck replied that he was 
certainly exceeding his instructions, but that, as it 
was a choice between a more liberal constitution 
and a revolution, he would return to England for 
larger powers to enforce what, in his opinion, was 
absolutely necessary in the situation ; after which 
he took his leave and sailed from Sicily. 

The King was resolved not to quarrel with 
England, but Maria Carolina, exasperated and un- 
convinced, was irritated at the attitude of the Duke 



4i6 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

of Orleans, whose melancholy reserve expressed his 
opinion in a manner which made her exclaim to her 
daughter, ^^ Since I committed the folly of taking 
him for my son-in-law, I must put up with him as 
your husband and the father of your child. But he 
ought to realise that legitimate authority is always 
successful, and that to it one must remain 
attached." 

She shed indignant tears as she related to her 
daughter the particulars of her interview with Lord 
William Bentinck, and growing more and more 
excited when she heard that he had sailed, she 
broke into imprecations against the English, de- 
claring that sooner than yield to their demands she 
would seek the protection of Napoleon or throw 
herself into the power of Murat, even if it cost 
her life. I 

In three months Bentinck came back again, 
armed with full authority to act as he thought best, 
and the course he chose to take was one intolerable 
to the Queen, and also to the King, who supported 
her. Even then Maria Carolina might have saved 
the situation by recognising the inevitable and 
accepting the new constitution, the reforms of 
which were most necessary, and which contained 
nothing derogatory to the dignity of the Sovereign, 
but was only modelled after that of England. And 
even if it had been objectionable, she had no power 
to resist, and her doing so could only make matters 
worse. 

However, she did refuse to listen to reason, 
upon which the ambassador proceeded to threats, 

* " Vie de Marie Amelie, Reine des Fran^ais" (Auguste Trognon). 




Ferdixaxdo IV., King of the Twlt Sicilies. 

From an original xvater-colour given by Queen Maria Carolina to Sir Thomas Hardy, 

and now in the possession of Mr. Hardy Manfield. 



7^0 face />. 417. 



MARIA CAROLINA 417 

which, unHke her own, he had power to carry 
out. 

If it became expedient he would send the King 
and Queen to England, and place the little son of 
the Prince Royal, then two years old, upon the 
throne, under the regency of the Duke of Orleans 
and Prince Belmonte. 

The Queen replied that she would resist by force 
of arms, to which he answered that he had the 
power to suspend the British subsidy of four 
hundred thousand pounds. 

There was no more to be said. The Queen left 
Palermo and retired to one of her country houses 
in the neighbourhood, leaving the King to make 
what terms he could. 

The following deed of appointment was the 
result : 

" Ferdinando IV. of Naples and Sicily to his son 
Francesco, Hereditary Prince. 

^' My most esteemed son Francis, Hereditary 
Prince of the Two Sicilies, — Being obliged through 
indisposition and from the advice of the Physicians 
to breathe the air of the country and to withdraw 
myself from all serious application ... I constitute 
and appoint you my Vicar-General in this my 
Kingdom of Sicily in the same way as you have 
been already twice Vicar-General in my Kingdom 
of Naples ; and I yield and transfer to you with 
the ample title of ' Alter Ego ' the exercise of all 
the rights, prerogatives, pre-eminences and powers 
which could be exercised by myself. . . . 

*' Given at Palermo this i6th day of January, 181 2." 
28 



4i8 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

It was privately understood between Ferdinando 
and Bentinck that this indisposition should con- 
tinue as long as it was supposed to be for the 
English and Sicilian interest ; and as the Prince 
Royal was not in the least under the influence of 
his mother, her power would be at an end. 

Everything was now in the hands of Lord William 
Bentinck, who proceeded to arrange the affairs of 
Sicily in imitation of England. It was endowed 
with a House of Lords, a House of Commons, 
responsible ministers, independent judges, and a 
constitution as like the English one as could be 
framed for the occasion. All sorts of necessary 
reforms were made, and Ferdinando remained 
quite happily in the country amusing himself ; 
while Maria Carolina fretted and raved in her 
enforced retreat, brooding over her wrongs and 
troubles, and waiting for an opportunity to escape 
from her present intolerable position. 

How far the new English constitution was popular 
in Sicily, how long it gave promise of lasting, how 
long the Sicilians would have borne the yoke of 
England, are not questions to be entered into in 
a book of this kind ; neither are the quarrels and 
intrigues of the barons, for the prosecution of which 
they made use of the various transactions and com- 
motions in the revolution going on. How Belmonte 
hated Medici and cajoled, flattered, and laughed at 
Bentinck — in fact, the whole tangled mass of plots, 
quarrels, reforms, misrepresentations, public pro- 
fessions, and private interests of this period, would 
be far too long and too tedious to relate. 

The Prince of Salerno, in opposition to the 



MARIA CAROLINA 419 

English party, his brother and brother-in-law, 
remained either with his father or his mother, 
and the Queen was secretly exercising her still 
powerful influence over the King to counteract 
the proceedings of their enemies. 

The English constitution was not popular with 
the Sicilians, who hated foreigners and declared 
that the state of famine prevailing in the island 
was caused by them. The overbearing manners of 
Bentinck made him disliked. 

One day the King suddenly re-appeared in 
Palermo, announced that his indisposition was 
cured, ordered a Te Deum to be sung, and 
prepared to reassume the government. But it was 
useless : the English troops were in possession. 
Bentinck sent the Duke of Orleans to the King 
with remonstrances and threats ; Ferdinando yielded, 
countermanded the Te Deum, and returned to his 
hunting at La Favorita, five miles from Palermo. 

The Queen took refuge in a castle in the moun- 
tains, where she prepared to defend herself with a 
guard of eight hundred peasants, providing for the 
subsistence of her garrison by pawning her jewels. 
But this, of course, could not last long. Besieged 
in her rocky fortress by the English troops with 
cannon, she surrendered, and retired to a palace, 
where, virtually a prisoner, though treated with all 
outward forms of respect and ceremony, she passed 
the last months of her Sicilian life. 

However one may recognise the faults, follies, 
and errors of the Queen, and deplore the infatuated 
obstinacy with which she refused all advice or 
concession, persisted in following her own way, 



420 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

quarrelled with or alienated her friends and ruined 
her life, one cannot but see that her lot was an 
unusually hard one. 

Sicily was now in the hands of the English, as 
Naples had been in those of the French ; and 
although they were neither guilty of cruelty or 
bloodshed, did not attempt to exclude the royal 
family from the throne or deprive them of their 
property, or in any way oppress the people, still 
the fact remained that it was Lord William Bentinck, 
not King Ferdinando or Queen Maria Carolina, 
who was now the ruler of Sicily, and after her last 
rash and futile attempt at resistance had failed, her 
sentence of exile from her own kingdom was passed 
by the foreigner, representing the allied and friendly 
power to whom she had hitherto looked for pro- 
tection. 

Even now her power over the King would prevail, 
and as long as she remained in the island the new 
government and policy would never be safe ; and 
Bentinck, in constant fear of her influence and 
hostility, insisted on her retirement to Austria. 
To this, however, Ferdinando would not consent, 
and for a long time he persisted in his refusal, 
which was only extorted at last by threats. At 
length he was induced reluctantly to sign the order 
for her departure — '' Come amico ve lo consiglio, come 
marito ve lo domando, come Re ve lo commando." 

On the 15th of June, 1813, Maria Carolina, accom- 
panied by her youngest and dearest son, sailed from 
the shores of that lovely island which had been the 
scene of so many sorrows, and turned her steps 
towards her native land. 



CHAPTER XXVI 

Departure from Palermo — The Queen's journey with Prince Leopold 
— The Marchesa Solari — Sad recollections — Arrival in Austria 
— The castle of Hetzenberg — Fall of the Emperor Napoleon — 
Arrival of the Empress Marie Louise — Her affection for her 
grandmother, the Queen of Naples — The King of Rome — The 
Queen's love for him — King Ferdinando orders the Minerva 
to fetch back the Queen and Prince Leopold — Death of the 
Queen. 

IN spite of the curious terms on which the King 
and Queen of Naples had of late been living, 
Ferdinando did not wish Maria Carolina to go. 
He had refused his consent to her departure until it 
had been forced from him, and when he could not 
help himself he wrote to the Emperor Franz, begging 
him to receive his wife and son, '^ for reasons very 
displeasing [to me], my most dear wife being 
obliged to leave this kingdom ... to avoid greater 
misfortunes to us both." ^ 

The Duchess of Orleans also wrote commending 
to the Emperor's care the mother " whose departure 
plunges me into the deepest affliction." 2 

* " Per ragioni ben dispiacevoli essendo costretta 1' amatissima 
mia moglie ad allontanarsi da questo Regno . . . per evitare ad 
entrambi maggiori dispiaceri. . . ." 

"^ " Dont le depart me plonge dans la plus vive et la plus juste 
affliction." 

421 



422 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

Many of the people who disliked the English 
complained loudly and vehemently of the departure 
of the Queen, who was exceedingly charitable and 
kind to them ; in fact, directly she was gone there 
was a riot. 

Maria Carolina and her son slowly and leisurely 
pursued their journey, taking precautions to avoid 
meeting the ships of the enemy, and stopping at one 
place after another on their route. 

They spent some time in Sardinia with the young 
newly-married Ferdinand and Marie Beatrix of Este, 
and then sailed to Zante, where they also stayed. 

While she was in that lovely island the Queen 
received a visit from the Marchesa Solari, the faithful 
and devoted servant and friend of Marie Antoinette. 
Eighteen year,s had passed since the Marchesa had 
come to her at Naples to bring her the last news of 
her murdered sister. 

Then, although bowed down with grief and 
horror at that fearful tragedy, she was in her 
immediate surroundings powerful and prosperous, 
still beautiful, honoured, and flattered, with her 
children around her in her brilliant capital, ruling 
over her husband, her court, and her two kingdoms. 
Now, a wandering, broken-hearted exile, separated 
from her husband and all her remaining children 
but one, with no trace of her former beauty, her 
spirits and health shattered, she would not allow 
the Marchesa to kneel and kiss her hand. 

^' No ! " she exclaimed ; " it would now be a 
mockery and an insult to my present condition. 
The daughter of Maria Theresia, a wanderer and 
an outcast, must no longer receive the marks of 



MARIA CAROLINA 423 

distinction which were the right of the Queen of 
Naples. You see me now in a very different 
position from that in which you found me when 
you brought me the letters of my dear murdered 
sister." 

When the Marchesa expressed the hope that her 
Majesty would return after a time to her husband 
and children in Sicily, she answered : 

^^ Never ! never ! I shall be one of the few 
Queens who end their days in the place which 
gave them birth. I pardon Lord William, as I do 
all my enemies. Not only England but all Europe 
will one day do me justice." 

During the course of their long conversation she 
had, however, spoken with bitter indignation of 
Lord William Bentinck and the treatment she had 
experienced from him. 

'^ I have been deprived of the government of my 
own country, of the dignity of my character, of the 
affection of my husband and children ! But he has 
never been a father — he has never been a sovereign, 
and cannot therefore have the feelings of insulted 
majesty. And then I am accused of treason because 
I wish to recover my just rights as a sovereign, a 
wife, and a mother." 

She would talk often of her past life, and once 
remarked sadly : 

*^ For a long time I have believed that I knew 
how to govern, and I have only found out my 
mistake when it was too late. In order to rule men 
wisely one should study and understand them ; this 
I did not do. If ever God should restore me to the 
throne, I will begin a new life." 



424 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

She always took with her and kept in her 
room the family portraits she loved — amongst them 
those of Marie Antoinette and her husband. The 
fan she used had on it pictures of Naples and 
Palermo. 

After leaving Zante, the royal travellers were 
delayed by various reasons — by storms, by the 
obstacles to the entrance of the Sicilian ships into 
the Bosphorus, and by the plague at Constantinople, 
where they remained for a considerable time. 

It was not until nearly Christmas, in all the rigour 
of wintry weather, that they arrived at Vienna, where 
they were received with due honour, and where the 
royal castle of Ofen had been prepared for their 
residence. 

As the Queen wished to be nearer to her grand- 
children, this castle was exchanged for that of 
Hetzenberg. 

The castle of Hetzenberg was a pleasant, stately 
home, the most peaceful refuge that could have 
been found under the circumstances for the sad 
and weary woman who had fled to the shelter of 
the beloved scenes of her childhood. Prince 
Leopold, who had always loved his mother with 
devoted affection, was now her chief support and 
comfort. To him the Austrian castle was home 
as long as it was inhabited by her, and the society 
of her grandchildren was also a pleasure and interest 
to her. She seldom went into Vienna, but remained 
nearly always in her country house, which was not 
far from Schonbrunn. 

To her daughter Christine, afterwards Queen of 
Sardinia, she wrote in a melancholy vein : 



MARIA CAROLINA 425 

" Rien ne me louche plus sur la terre ; mon sort a 
^te juge et decide le jour ou j'ai ete chassee comme 
une femme de theatre, et jetee hors de la Sicile. 
. . . Ma vie est terminee en ce monde. . . . Je ne 
suis plus un objet d'interet que pour quelques 
vieilles femmes qui ne sortent jamais de chez elles, 
et qui sortent pour voir le dernier des enfants de la 
grande Marie Therese. . . . Le Prater est dans son 
beau vert, tout en fleurs, mais il n'y a plus rien de 
beau pour moi." ^ 

A new and unexpected interest was, however, 
even now to arise for her, and to give a certain 
amount of comfort and occupation to her thoughts 
in these last days. 

The events of the early part of 18 14 had been 
watched from her Austrian refuge by the exiled 
Queen, who must have often reflected with bitter 
regret that the combination of allied powers, had 
it been as successful more than twenty years ago, 
would have saved her sister from death and herself 
from ruin. 

The victories of the allies, the fall of the Empire, 
and the captivity of Napoleon followed in rapid 
succession ; and now Marie Louise, the wife of her 
arch-enemy but the child of her favourite daughter, 
came, like herself, to take refuge in the home of 
her childhood and at the court of her father. 

And far better than father, brothers, sisters, or 
friends the banished Empress loved the grand- 
mother whose warm heart, high spirit, and strong 

^ Journal manuscrit de la reine Marie Caroline, adresse a sa 
fille la Duchesse de Genevois, plus tard Reine de Sardaigne. — 
"Vie de Marie Amelie, &c." (Trognon). 



426 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

affections formed the most complete contrast to her 
own cold, apathetic nature. 

It often happens that opposite dispositions attract 
each other ; and Marie Louise turned from all her 
family to the grandmother who, while she loved 
her and saw in her only her own granddaughter 
and her Teresa's child, did not hesitate to say what 
she thought, and to express in no doubtful terms 
her disapproval of the conduct of the young 
Empress during the late and present circum- 
stances. 

To Maria Carolina, who, in spite of all his faults 
and infidelities, had stood bravely and faithfully 
by Ferdinando to the utmost of her power, it was 
inconceivable that Marie Louise should not have 
followed her husband into exile; and she indig- 
nantly declared that, rather than consent to the 
separation, the Empress should, if there were no 
other means of escape, have tied her bed-curtains 
together and let herself down from her window to 
join him. *' At least, that is what I should have 
done in her place, for when one is married it is 
for life." 

Of Napoleon she spoke with the generosity of a 
brave nature to a fallen enemy. 

" I had much to complain of from the Emperor 
in former years," she said one day to a French 
gentleman of her granddaughter's household. ^' He 
persecuted me and wounded me in my most sacred 
feelings. I was ten years younger then, but now 
that he is in adversity all that shall be forgotten." 

She reproached her granddaughter also that she 
shrank from mentioning her husband's name to her 



MARIA CAROLINA 427 

father, or from having his portrait in her rooms ; 
in consequence of which Marie Louise, with whom 
her grandmother had more influence than any one 
else, got out the portrait of Napoleon and put it 
upon her writing-table. 

The Httle child, lately King of Rome, afterwards 
Duke de Reichstadt, she adored. He was her only 
great-grandchild, and from the first he was devoted 
to her, and she never tired of caressing and indulging 
him, regarding him with mingled compassion and 
foreboding, which his melancholy life and early 
death amply fulfilled. 

For the Queen there seemed now better hopes 
for a brighter future. There had been a talk of 
the Duke and Duchess of Orleans coming to Vienna, 
where, the Duchess wrote, she hoped to see her dear 
mother and brother ; and as the Emperor wished to 
see the Princess Carolina, daughter of the Prince 
Royal of Naples by his first wife, the Archduchess 
Clementine, she was to come also. 

The Congress was sitting at Vienna ; Ferdinando 
was again supreme in Sicily, and already the 
Minerva was to sail for Trieste to bring back the 
Queen and the Prince of Salerno. 

But it was too late. 

On the 7th of September, 1814, the Queen had 
retired to bed apparently in no worse health than 
usual : on the morning of the 8th her women, going 
into her room, found her lying dead with her hand 
stretched out as if to ring the bell, having again 
been struck by apoplexy. 

It was by some attributed to her grief on learning, 
the evening before, that the allies proposed to allow 



428 A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 

Murat to remain in possession of Naples; but this 
is uncertain. 

A little longer and she would have lived to see 
the death of Murat and to enter Naples with her 
husband and sons, but it was not to be ; the 
brilliant, changeful, stormy life was over, and the 
wearied, restless spirit had passed away. Shortly 
after her death Ferdinando married his mistress, 
Lucia Migliaccio, widow of the Prince of 
Partanna. 

To those who unjustly attribute the cruelties of 
Ferdinando to the influence of Maria Carolina, it 
may be pointed out that it was when she was away 
from him that all his worst cruelties were per- 
petrated. 

It was during her absence in Sicily and in 
Austria that the horrors of the trials and execu- 
tions were committed in Naples ; and when, after 
the death of the Queen, the Two Sicilies were 
restored to Ferdinando, he was a far worse man 
and a more cruel and tyrannical ruler than he 
had ever been during the life and influence of 
the sister of Marie Antoinette, the last remaining 
daughter of the great Empress. 



INDEX 



Acton, Sir John, Prime Minister 
of Ferdinando IV., King of 
Naples and Sicily, 101-104, 
117, 144, 160, 161, 163-165, 
168, 176, 185, 209, 223, 225, 
311, 338, 343, 346, 357, 391 

Albreclit,DukeofSaxe-Teschen, 
son of Augustus the Strong, 
King of Poland, 21, 40, 43, 
99, 107, 137, 327 

Amalie, Archduchess of Austria, 
Duchess of Parma, 10, 28, 57 ; 
betrothal and marriage to 
Duke of Parma, 60-62 ; visit 
of Emperor Joseph, 79, 80 ; 
unhappy married life, 85, 86 ; 
Mme. Le Brun, 119 

Amelie, Princess of Naples, 
afterwards Queen of France, 
wife of Louis Philippe, 
daughter of Ferdinando IV. : 
birth and early years, 115, 
116, 197 ; studies and superior 
talents, 198 ; affection for her 
father, 200; impression caused 
by the murder of her aunt, 



Marie Antoinette, 202 ; her 
governess, 202, 233 ; flight to 
Sicily, 257 ; life at Palermo, 
264; to Vienna, 314; life at 
Vienna, 325-331 ; the Arch- 
duke Anton, 332 ; horror of 
a Spanish marriage, 333 ; 
Naples, 336 ; grief at the 
marriage of Princess An- 
toinette, 338 ; her sister-in- 
law, 341 ; projects of marriage, 
341 ; earthquake, 366-368 ; 
second escape to Sicily, 
376-377 ; hardships, 378-381 ; 
alarm about the Princess of 
the Asturias, 383 ; life near 
Palermo, 392-393 ; domestic 
sorrows, 376-378 ; the Duke 
of Orleans, 403 ; her engage- 
ment to him, 404-405 ; mar- 
riage, 406 ; difficult position, 
412 ; sorrow at her mother's 
departure, 421 
Antoinette (Marie Antoinette) 
Archduchess of Austria, wife 
of Louis XVI., 10, 28, 54, 56, 



429 



430 



A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 



67, 86, 103 ; project of marry- 
ing the first Dauphin to 
Princess Amelie of Naples, 
114 ; Marie Antoinette proud 
of her superior position to 
those of her sisters, 116, 117 ; 
eve of the Revolution, 118; 
failure of opportunities of 
escape, 129, 131 ; imprudence 
of Marie Antoinette, 132 ; 
the necessaire de voyage, 133, 
134 ; Varennes, 135, 136 ; 
attempt to save Marie An- 
toinette, 171 ; her death, 200 

Artois, Charles, Comte d', 
afterwards Charles X., King 
of France, 128, 137 

Asturias, Antoinette, Princess 
of Naples, wife of Fernando, 
Prince of the Asturias, 115, 
314; betrothal to the Prince 
of the Asturias, 332 ; marriage, 
337-339 ; unhappy life, 346- 
352, 383-385 ; death of the 
Princess of the Asturias, 385 

Baccher, conspiracy of, 272- 

275 ; 305 

Caracciolo, Prince, 255-258, 
266, 299 

Carl, Archduke of Austria, son 
of Emperor Francois and 
Empress Maria Theresia, 10 ; 
favourite son of Emperor 
and Empress, 18, 19, 23 ; 
betrothed to Ludovica of 
Spain, 29; his death, 30, 31 



Carl VI., Emperor of Germany, 

2-5,8 
Carlos III., King of Spain, 59, 

60, 73, 74, 99, 11 1, 112, 117 
Carlos IV., King of Spain, 112- 

114.339,343,353 
Caserta, 71, 82, 90, 91, 99, 115 
Christine, Archduchess of Aus- 
tria, Governess of the Nether- 
lands, wife of Albrecht, Duke 
of Saxe-Teschen, 10; favourite 
daughter of the Emperor and 
Empress, Francois and Maria 
Theresia, 18, 19 ; romantic 
love for Albrecht von Saxe- 
Teschen, 21, 22 ; friendship 
with Isabella of Parma, 32- 
36; Governess of Hungary, 
43,44, 137 ; visits her sister at 
Naples, 107-108, 228; her 
death, 264 
Christine, Princess of Naples, 
afterwards Queen of Sardinia, 
wife of Carlo Felice, Duke of 
Genoa, King of Sardinia, 197, 
198, 264 ; the Due de Berri 
wishes to marry her, 314 ; 
sails for Livorno, 315 ; 
Vienna, 314-325 ; Naples, 
336 ; projects of marriage — 
the Duke of Genoa, the 
Grand-duke Ferdinand, 353, 
354, 367, 375-379; marries 
the Duke of Genoa, 395-396 ; 
sails for Sardinia, 398, 412 

Elisabeth of Wiirtemberg, 
wife of Emperor Carl VI., 
5, 10, 28 



INDEX 



431 



Elisabeth, Archduchess of Aus- 
tria, Abbess of Innsbruck : 
beauty and liveliness, 22 ; dis- 
like to being Abbess, 23, 40 ; 
failure of marriages proposed, 
41 ; her beauty d ^stroyed by 
small-pox, 45, 122, 325 

Elisabeth, Madame, sister of 
Louis XVI., 128-13 1 ; 
Varennes, 135, 136, 171 

Ferdinand, Archduke of Aus- 
tria, Duke of Modena, 10, 28, 

32,41 
Ferdinand, Grand-duke of Tus- 
cany, second son of the 
Emperor Leopold, 317, 328, 

353, 370 
Ferdinando IV., King of 
Naples and Sicily : betrothed 
to Archduchess Johanna, 29 ; 
to Archduchess Josepha, 41 ; 
to Archduchess Maria Caro- 
lina, 57-60 ; marriage, 71, 72 ; 
early life and habits, 73, 75 ; 
the lazzaroni, 76 ; love for 
the Queen, 77 ; reply to the 
Grand-duke of Tuscany, 80 ; 
love for his children, 87 ; 
popularity, 88 ; liaisons^ 90 ; 
story of an old peasant 
woman, 91 ; intrigues and 
love-affairs of Ferdinando, 
95, 96 ; his eldest daughter, 
99 ; jealousy of Acton, 104 ; 
splendour of court, 106-107 > 
goes to Vienna for marriages 
of his children and corona- 
tion of Emperor Leopold, 



121, 124, 127 ; Rome, 127 ; 
Lady Hamilton, 153 ; death 
of Louis XVI., 160 ; refuses 
to receive French Ambas- 
sador, 161 ; French Admiral 
threatens Naples, 165 ; Ferdi- 
nando and Charles I. of 
England, 167 ; neglect of 
business, 173 ; the King and 
his children, 198 ; his love 
for the Princess Amelie, 199 ; 
acknowledges Louis XVI 1 1., 
227 ; strange diversions of 
Ferdinando, 230, 231 ; domes- 
tic affection, 233 ; delight at 
the Battle of the Nile, 245 ; 
enters Rome, 247 ; defeated, 
248 ; escapes to Sicily, 257 ; 
estrangement from the Queen, 
267, 268 ; gives his father's 
sword to Nelson and makes 
him Duke of Bronte, 275 ; 
contented life at Palermo, 
287 ; re-enters Naples, 292 ; 
Order of S. Ferdinando, 295 ; 
cruel severity, 301-307 ; re- 
turn to Palermo, 308 ; Naples, 
313; autograph letter, 313; 
takes leave of the Queen and 
his children on board ship, 
314 ; anxiety for their safety, 
322 ; renewed confidence in 
the Queen, 319 ; receives the 
Queen at Naples, 356 ; mar- 
riage of Princess Antoinette 
to the Prince of Asturias, 
338 ; the new Princess Royal, 
341 ; country life, 349, 350 ; 
letter to Nelson, 363 ; society 



432 



A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 



at court, 364 ; at Portici 
during the earthquake, 368 ; 
alarming prospects, 371 ; 
council of war, 372 ; Ferdi- 
nando escapes to Sicily, 373 ; 
unfortunate position, 381 ; 
lives happily in the country 
in Sicily, 393 ; Ferdinand© 
and Maria Carolina, 400 ; 
marriage of Princess Amelie, 
405-406 ; interference of 
England, 414 ; Ferdinando 
resolves not to quarrel with 
England, 415 ; resigns govern- 
ment to Prince Royal, 417- 
418 ; influenced by Queen 
suddenly resumes power, 419; 
resigns again, 419 ; refuses 
and at last consents to the 
Queen's departure, 420, 421 ; 
victories of allies, 425 ; Fer- 
dinando again supreme in 
Sicily, 427 ; orders a warship 
to bring back the Queen and 
Prince Leopold, 427 ; death 
of the Queen, 427 ; Ferdi- 
nando marries Lucia Mig- 
liaccio, 428 

Fra Diavolo, 270, 388 

Francesco, Prince Royal of 
Naples, afterwards Fran- 
cesco L, 98, 112, 114, 122, 
127, 238, 337, 338, 340, 341, 
355, 366, 371-372, 375. 379, 
392, 412, 417 

Fran9ois, Duke of Lorraine, 
Grand-duke of Tuscany, Em- 
peror of Germany (Franz L) : 
betrothed to Maria Theresia, 



2, 4 ; marriage, 5 ; elected 
Emperor, 9 ; adventure in 
a vineyard, 13 ; splendour of 
court at Vienna, 14 ; the 
amusements of the Emperor 
and jealousy of the Empress, 
15 ; their favourite son and 
daughter, 19 ; difficult posi- 
tion of the Emperor, 22-25 > 
liaisons of the Emperor, 25, 
26 ; Princess von Auersperg, 
26 ; death of Prince Carl, 31 ; 
death of the Emperor Fran- 
gois de Lorraine, 38 

Franz II., Emperor of Germany, 
afterwards of Austria, 121- 
124, 324, 327, 397, 427 

Frederick the Great, King of 
Prussia, 5, 8 

Hamilton, Sir William, 147 ; 
marries Emma Hart, 151, 
155, 194, 203, 244, 250, 257- 
259 ; refuses to acknowledge 
treaty of surrender, 288-291, 
293, 309 ; receives portrait 
of King, 310 ; recalled, 312 ; 
leaves Palermo, 314; leaves 
Vienna, 324; his death, 341 

Hamilton, Lady, Emma Hart 
alias Amy Lyon : arrives at 
Naples, 153 ; proceedings 
there, 154, 155 ; mistress of 
Sir William Hamilton — left 
Naples and returned with 
him as his wife, 156 ; friend- 
ship with the Queen, 194-196, 
203, 205, 209, 219, 233 ; the 
ships of Nelson, 242-243 ; 



INDEX 



433 



alarms, 251 ; voyage to Sicily, 
256, 293-294 ; helps to save 
prisoners, 298, 305, 309 ; re- 
ceives magnificent presents 
from the Queen, 310 ; liaison 
with Nelson, 314; returns to 
England, 325 ; extravagance 
and rapacity of Lady Hamil- 
ton, 359-360 ; her ingratitude 
to the Queen, 361 

Isabel of Spain, wife of Fran- 
cesco, Prince Royal of Naples, 
337. 340> 3^h 356-357. 375. 
377. 392 

Isabella of Parma, betrothed to 
the Crown Prince of Austria, 
29 ; their marriage, 32 ; 
strange history of Isabella, 
33-36 ; her death, 37 

Johanna, Archduchess of Aus- 
tria, daughter of Emperor 
and Empress Francois de 
Lorraine and Maria Theresia, 
10 ; betrothed to King of 
Naples, 29 ; her death, 36 

Joseph II., Emperor of Ger- 
many, King of Hungary, 
Bohemia, &c., 10, 18, 19, 23, 
24 ; betrothal to Isabella of 
Parma, 29 ; his love for her, 
30 ; marriage, 32 ; devotion 
to Isabella, 33-36 ; despair 
at her death, 37 ; marries 
Josepha of Bavaria against 
his wishes, 37-38 ; succeeds 
his father as Emperor, 39 ; 
love for his sister Josepha, 



41 ; grief at her death, 48 ; 
despair at the death of his 
daughter Theresia, 49, 50 ; 
visits his sisters at Naples 
and Parma, 78, 79 ; second 
visit to Naples, iii ; his 
death, 119 

Josepha, Archduchess of Aus- 
tria, daughter of Francois de 
Lorraine and Maria Theresia, 
10 ; favourite sister of Em- 
peror Joseph, 41 ; betrothed 
to King of Naples, 41, 42 ; 
preparations for wedding, 
46 ; dies of small-pox, 48 

Josepha of Bavaria, second 
wife of Emperor Joseph II. : 
unhappy married life, 37, 38 ; 
dies of small-pox, 45 

Kaunitz, Wenceslaus Anton, 
Prinz von. Prime Minister 
of Maria Theresia, 16, 17, 58, 
60 

Le Brun, Mme. Vigee, 118, 
145, 148 

Leopold, Prince of Salerno, 
son of Ferdinando IV., King 
of Naples and Sicily, 113, 
27S> 314. 331. 336, 375. 392, 
393. 396, 404 .* takes part 
with his parents against the 
Sicilians and English, 419 ; 
accompanies his mother to 
Austria, 420 ; lives with her 
at Hetzenberg, 424 

Leopold II,, Emperor of Ger- 
many, King of Hungary and 



29 



434 



A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 



Bohemia, Grand-duke of 
Tuscany, &c., lo, i8, 19, 30 ; 
Grand-duke of Tuscany, 32 ; 
marries Ludovica of Spain, 
38 ; accompanies Maria Caro- 
lina to Naples, Oy ; his affec- 
tion for her, 67-71 ; leaves 
Naples, 78, 80, 85, loi, 113, 
114 ; succeeds to the throne, 
119; weddings and corona- 
tion, 122, 123 ; popularity of 
Leopold, 124; projects of 
Leopold and Carolina to 
rescue Marie Antoinette, 125 ; 
the Grand-duchy of Tus- 
cany, 138-140 ; death of 
Leopold, 158 

Louis XVL, King of France, 
118, 128-13 1 ; Varennes, 135, 
136, 144, 161, 167 

Louis XVIL, King of France, 
115, 133, 217, 218, 225, 227 

Louis XVIIL, King of France, 
129, 136, 137, 226-229 

Louis Philippe, King of 
France, Due d'Orleans, 403- 
407,410,412 

Ludovica, Princess of Naples, 
Grand-duchess of Tuscany, 
daughter of Ferdinando IV., 
King of Naples and Sicily, 
120, 122, 313, 326, 336 

Maria Carolina Charlotte, 
Archduchess of Austria, 
Queen of Naples and Sicily : 
birth, 2, 10, 28 ; letters of the 
Empress to her, 54 ; be- 
trothed to King of Naples, 



53-65 ; her marriage, 66 ; 
journey to Naples, 66, 71 ; 
letters to her governess, 72, 
73 ; becomes reconciled to 
her life, 73 ; influence over 
Ferdinando, 77 ; rules the 
kingdom, 80-82 ; affection of 
Carolina for her mother, 87 ; 
birth of her daughters, 87 ;' 
of the heir to the throne, 87 ; 
disputes between King and 
Queen, 98 ; birth of Fran- 
cesco, 98 ; death of Carlo, 
Prince Royal, 99; govern- 
ment of the Queen, 100 ; the 
fleet, loi, 102 ; Acton, loi- 
103 ; gossip at court, 103 ; 
jealousy of Ferdinando, 104 ; 
society at Naples, 105, 106 ; 
Neapolitan convents, 107- 
109 ; a voyage of pleasure, 
III ; death of two sons of 
Carolina, 112, 113; projects 
of marriage for her children, 
114, 115 ; interference of 
Carlos III., 117, 118; journey 
to Vienna, 120 ; return to 
Vienna, 121 ; marriage of 
the eldest daughter with 
Crown Prince of Germany 
and Grand-duke of Tuscany, 
and betrothal of Prince 
Royal to Archduchess Cle- 
mentine, 122-124 ; visit to 
Rome, 127, 128 ; eve of the 
French Revolution, 129 ; 
terrors and anxieties, 130, 
131 ; return to Naples, 138 ; 
awakening 139, 142 ; change 



INDEX 



435 



of system, 142, 145 ; first sees 
Lady Hamilton, 153 ; splen- 
dour of the career of Queen 
Maria Carolina, 156, 157 ; 
success of allied troops, 162 ; 
their defeat, 162 ; approach- 
ing dangers, 162 ; Ambassa- 
dors of France, 162, 163 ; 
threatened bombardment of 
Naples, 164, 165 ; outrageous 
conduct of French Ambassa- 
dor, 168; declining popu- 
larity of the Queen, 173 ; her 
reforms and good govern- 
ment, 174-178 ; slanders cir- 
culated by her enemies, 179- 
183 ; her secret police, 186 ; 
the plots of the Jacobins, 
187-189 ; her friendship with 
Lady ' Hamilton, 195, 196 ; 
the Queen and her children, 
197-199 ; murder of Marie 
Antoinette, 200 ; solemn re- 
quiem, 200 ; vows of ven- 
geance, 201, 204 ; courage 
and energy of Maria Carolina, 
206 ; her warlike preparations, 
207, 208 ; court and society, 
2 to; eruption of Vesuvius, 
211 ; plots and spies, 215, 
221 ; Jacobin conspirators 
and secret arrests, 222, 223 ; 
Prince Caramanico, 224, 225 ; 
the Queen shares the amuse- 
ments of the King, 229-231 ; 
nurses him in illness, 233 ; 
arrests and trials, 234-236 ; 
alarm at approach of French 
t, 239 ; rejoicing at victory 



of Nile, 247 ; disturbances at 
Naples and flight to Sicily, 
251-265 ; the court at Pa- 
lermo, 265-266 ; estrange- 
ment of the King and Queen, 
266 ; letter to the Empress 
of Germany, 286 ; to Lady 
Hamilton, 297; remains at 
Palermo, 301 ; charity and 
generosity of Maria Carolina, 
309-311 ; she becomes ill and 
depressed, 311, 312; resolves 
to go to Austria, 314 ; sails 
from Palermo, 3 15 ; Marengo, 
316 ; journey to Vienna, 317- 
322 ; life at Vienna, 322-336 ; 
return to Naples, 337 ; grief 
at the death of Clementine, 
Princess Royal, 335 ; dislike 
to Isabel of Spain, second 
wife of Prince Royal, 341 ; 
gratitude to Nelson and 
England, 342 ; her renewed 
influence over the King, 344 ; 
correspondence with Na- 
poleon, 345, 346 ; anxiety 
for the Princess of the 
Asturias, 346-348 ; domestic 
life of the Queen and her 
children, 354-358 ; threaten- 
ing letter from Napoleon, 
365 ; fearful earthquake, 
366-368 ; landing of allied 
troops, 373 ; Austerlitz, 372 ; 
second flight of Queen and 
royal family to Palermo, 
374-377 ; hardships of their 
arrival, 377-381 ; English 
allies, 384 ; news of the death 



436 



A SISTER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 



of the Princess of the 
Asturias, 383-385 ; war in 
Calabria, 385-388 ; Fra Dia- 
volo, 388 ; attempts to re- 
conquer Naples, 389 ; rash- 
ness and obstinacy of the 
Queen, 391 ; extravagance 
and mismanagement, 391 ; 
country life of the royal 
family in Sicih', 392-394 ; 
marriage of Christine to the 
Duke of Genoa, 396 ; death 
of the Empress of Germany, 
397 ; threatened attack upon 
Sicily, 308 ; more slanders 
against the Queen, 309, 402 ; 
marriage of Amelie to the 
Due d'Orleans, 406 ; disputes 
with Sicilian Parliament, 410 ; 
the Queen struck with apo- 
plexy, 411 ; resumes her 
political affairs, 411-413; 
Lord William Bentinck, 416 ; 
continued strife, 417, 420 ; 
the Queen leaves Palermo 
with Prince Leopold, 421 ; 
retires to Austria, 424 ; the 
castle of Hetzenberg, 424 ; 
Marie Louise, 426 ; death of 
Maria Carolina, 427, 428 
Maria Theresia, Empress of 
Germany, Queen of Hun- 
gary and Bohemia, Arch- 
duchess of Austria, &c., wife 
of Frangois de Lorraine : 
her vast inheritance, 4 ; her 
marriage to Francois de 
Lorraine, 5 ; succeeds her 
father, 8 ; Empress, 9 ; her 



court, government, and 
family, 10-16 ; her Prime 
Minister, 17 ; her children, 
18-23 ; the Emperor, 24-26 ; 
projects for her children's 
marriages, 29, 30 ; death of 
her favourite son, 31 ; her 
first daughter-in-law, 32-37 ; 
her second daughter-in-law, 
38 ; death of the Emperor 
Francois, 38 ; despair of the 
Empress, 39 ; resumes the 
government, 39 ; marriages 
of her daughters, 40-65, 85 ; 
her death, loi 

Marianne, Archduchess of Aus- 
tria, Abbess of Prague, eldest 
daughter of Francois de Lor- 
raine and Maria Theresia, 10, 
18, 20, 122 

Marie Louise, Archduchess of 
Austria, wife of Napoleon, 
Empress of France : marries 
Napoleon, 408-409 ; retires 
to Vienna, 425 ; her affection 
for her grandmother, the 
Queen of Naples, 426, 427 

Marie Therese de France, 
daughter of Louis XVL 
(Madame Royale), 225-229 

Maximilien, Archduke of Aus- 
tria, Elector of Cologne, 10, 
28, 137, 228 

Metternich, Prince, 95 

Napoleon L, Buonaparte, Em- 
peror of France, 207, 239, 
315, 317; 327-329. 337, 345» 
365, 369. 374; 404 



INDEX 



437 



Nelson, Horatio, Admiral of 
the English Fleet, 192-193, 
196, 197 ; Battle of the Nile, 
241-247, 253-261, 275, 289- 
296, 30o> 310. 317* 322, 324, 
341, 342, 359, 362 ; Trafalgar, 
370 

SCHOXBRUNN, II, 12, l8, 19, 20, 
326 



Teresa, Princess of Naples, 
Empress of Germany, eldest 
daughter of Ferdinando IV., 
wife of Franz II., 87, 99, 
114-116, 120; marries the 
Crown Prince of Germany, 
121-124, 125, 168, 197, 198, 
224, 323, 324, 344, 354, 355, 

356, 357. 358, 364, 372, 375, 
377, 380, 392 ; her death, 396 



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